Fantastical Truths
by L. Borealis
Summary: Harry burst into a sudden smile and pulled her in, "I've never been happier to bump into anyone in my life." He didn't give her the chance to respond. His kiss elicited a light headed giddiness and a mind clearing that was close to being Obliviated...
1. Bedtime Mindblow

The setting sun poured through the window as she slowly opened her eyes. It had been a long night, a painfully terrible night that neither she nor the rest of the wizarding world would soon, if ever, forget. He was gone. The man who had possessed her and tortured her mind for an entire year, the man who had brutally killed the parents of the one she loved, the man who was responsible just today of the death of her dear brother, that _man_ was gone. He had been vanquished, quite literally, by the very arm that was lazily wrapped around her small figure at that precise moment. Despite her grief, a smile played across her lips. How long had she dreamed of being back in these arms? A better question, how long had she dreamed of EVER being in these arms to begin with? She loved him, in one way or another, since she was only a girl, since he was only a myth to her. "The Boy Who Lived", her favorite bed time story, that her father begrudgingly retold to her time and time again upon her insistent pleading.

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"Gin, please, how many times have I told you about Harry Potter?"

"Dad! You've told me 46 times, one more won't hurt, right??" She stared pleadingly at her father, her six year old eyes had already learned the power of the puppy dog stare. "I promise, PROMISE, that I'll go right to bed and I won't ask you for a week to tell it to me again."

Arthur sighed, "Two weeks." he bartered.

She held out her little hand in agreement, "Deal."

He shook, "Deal."

She quickly snuggled up in her bed, pulled up her covers, grabbed her favorite stuffed bunny that she always slept with and stared at her father wide eyed, expectantly.

"When you were a very little girl--"

"Wait," She grumbled, spinning around and fluffing her pillows until they were just right. "Okay."

Arthur chuckled and continued the beginning of his story. She knew it so well she could recite it with him. (Arthur had in fact dramatized it very well.) She would mouth her favorite lines with him, mock fear at the action, and, always, without fail, let a little cheer out at the end. This, indeed, was her favorite fairy tale. Bullocks on those princess or Merlin tales.

Quite suddenly, a thought popped up that had never popped up before. It was like a little puzzle had started assembling itself piece by piece in her head.

"Dad?"

"Yes Gin?"

"If you say that this was when I was a very little girl…Does…Does that mean that Harry Potter is real?" In all the times she heard this story, this had escaped her.

"Oh. Oh Yes! Didn't you know that?" She gaped at him, utterly stunned. The hero of her favorite story was…real. And if he had been only a baby when--

"Does that mean that…he's my age?" Her eyes widened as the puzzle in her head clicked together.

"Well, hmm, no, he's actually Ron's age, I believe. Just a smidgen older than you." He stated non-chalantly.

Ginny shot straight up in bed and quickly implored her father. She had so many questions now that this had dawned on her. "Did you know him?"

"Well, I didn't. I did know his father just a bit, he was a first year when I was head boy at Hogwarts. Got into a lot of trouble that one…but you mustn't occupy your mind with this, it's time you go to bed, we've to be up quite early tomorrow in order to visit Aunt Muriel."

She usually would have groaned audibly at that reminder, as going to Aunt Muriel's was akin to deknoming the lawn with your teeth, but nothing could have swayed her mood at that moment. She nodded and laid down, trying in vain to knock the shocked look off of her face. Arthur leaned down, kissed her lovingly on the cheek, and tucked the blankets around her tiny body.

"Nighty night Button."

"Good night Dad." She said quickly as she forced her eyes to snap shut. With a flick of his hand, her candle was out and he gently stepped through and closed her door. Her eyes instantly shot open as she allowed her discovery to overtake her. The Boy Who Lived, was out there somewhere, breathing, living, right that second. She smiled an elated smile, "You know what Bunny?" She implored the glassy eyes of her stuffed rabbit. "I'm want to marry him someday. Ginny Potter, what do you think?" With that she giggled her little girl giggle and rolled her eyes at such a fantastically stupid thought as her charmed bunny winked at her.


	2. In the Flesh

"Mom, please PLEASE let me go on the train and see him!" It wasn't like Ginny to throw a fit, but right now it felt like life and death to the girl.

"Ginny, I have told you once, and I will tell you again, you already saw him, it is rude to stare and you saw that that boy was scared and nervous, I don't think he would welcome gawkers at this very moment." Molly put her foot down.

The train began to chug away and Ginny's heart began to chug away with it. With that she saw the red mop of hair of her youngest brother Ron, as he waved good bye to her and her mother. She ran by the train, waving good bye to her brother as she glimpsed, in the compartment behind him, two brilliant emerald green eyes under a black mop of hair looking at her. At that very moment the train sped up and out raced her. Her chance was gone. She stood rooted in place as she watched the steam trail over the horizon until it was gone. She heard her mum give a slight chuckle. "I know, I'll miss the boys too, honey."

'_Does she think I was chasing the train to see the boys?! ' _ Truth was Ginny was secretly elated to have the house to herself for awhile.

"Now let's get you home and I'll make you your favorite for lunch. After all, it's just you, me and Dad now." Ginny took her moms hand, let out a little sigh and walked toward the exit off of platform 9 ¾.

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Ginny stared out of the window at the autumn leaves strewn across the lawn. It had been a month since the boys had all left for Hogwarts. She quickly found that the house was not nearly as fun as she had expected as now she was the only child around and thus her mothers only extra pair of hands. Her task after breakfast was to rake all of those forsaken leaves she saw. She grudging wondered why her mum couldn't just go out and do it with magic, but she knew from experience that any mention of that would be followed by, "Doing things the muggle way will only make you stronger, and you don't want to be a weak little girl now do you?"

She took the last bite of her toast as she spotted a black dot on the horizon.

"Mum. There's an owl coming!" She yelled to her mother in the next room as she opened the window for the messenger to fly in and perch on the back of a kitchen chair. She untied the letters as the owl pecked the final crumbs from her breakfast plate and flew back out the window.

"And who are we hearing from today?" Mrs. Weasley asked as she entered, wiping sweat off of her brow.

Ginny looked at the parchment, the scribbled, obviously left handed writing meant only one person. "Looks like Ron." She stated as she handed her mum the parchment labeled 'Mum and Dad'. As she handed it to her mum she realized that it was two separate parchments, below 'Mum and Dad' was a smaller parchment labeled 'Ginny'.

"Mum look! I got one too!" It was the first time that year that any of her brothers had written to her. At the start of every year they all promised to write her weekly, if not daily. Having had brothers in Hogwarts her whole life, she knew that was a load of empty promises. It used to hurt her feelings when she was younger, but now at the ripe old age of ten she took the disappointment in stride. Any correspondence with her brothers was surprising and very welcome.

She quickly ran up the stairs two at a time, skipped into her room, her red pony tail wagging, plopped on her bed and very carefully unfolded the letter. She was so excited to read it, to hear about Hogwarts , that she was almost disappointed when another piece fell out and dropped on the floor. She ignored it and jumped into the short letter.

_Dear Ginny,_

_How are you? I hope Mum's not treating you too bad now that her favorite son is gone. I mean I know she misses me terribly! Are you stuck with all of my chores? Do you see now why I hate being the one who's best at cleaning the soot out of the fireplace? It's not fun is it? _

_Hogwarts is great! If you aren't already counting the days until you come next year, you better start. I've already learned how to turn a matchstick into a needle. Okay, it took me a month to figure it out but I did it. _

_Fred and George are twice as bad here as they are at home. They're the best known pranksters in the school, but don't tell Mum that. Last week they made all of the silverware at the Slytherin table march like an army and when anyone who tried to use it would get attacked by flying forks. No one really got hurt, though this terrible kid named Draco Malfoy claims a fork scraped his face. Percy can't stand the fact that Fred and George are the biggest troublemakers in Gryffindor because they're the only two who won't listen when Prefect Percy yells at them._

_I'm just having so much fun here. I've made friends with Hagrid the game keeper and we spend a lot of time at his hut on the edge of the forest. You remember Hagrid from that party we went to a few years ago? The giant? Yeah, him. Harry just made it on the Quidditch team! _

"What?"

_He's the youngest seeker on the Gryffindor Quidditch team in a hundred years. I'd be jealous if he hadn't let me ride his new Nimbus Two Thousand. I put in a picture of me and Harry that I thought you might like--_

She stopped reading as her breath caught in her chest. The parchment crinkled into her hand with the force of her shocked fist. Ron was friends with Harry? Harry who? It couldn't be. Breathing quickly, she bent over and picked up the picture with her trembling hand. She turned it over and her eyes almost fell out of her head. There in front of her was Ron with the raven haired boy from the train…and…and there, plain as day, was a lighting shape scar on his forehead! They were waving, laughing and smiling, their arms draped around each others shoulders. She squealed. She couldn't help it. It must have been loud because a second later she heard footsteps on the stairs.

"Ginny? Ginny, are you alright?" She called as she stepped into the room. Ginny just stared at her, the picture in her hand. "Honey, are you okay?"

Ginny nodded, trance like. Warily, Mrs. Weasley stepped to her daughter to see what she was holding that was causing her to freeze like that. When she saw it she let out a relieved laugh. "Now, isn't that just the sweetest thing."

"Did you know that he was friends…with Harry Potter?" Ginny sputtered.

"Well, yes, he has mentioned him from time to time in his letters honey. He says he really is a nice boy."

"Oh, okay." It was all the little red head could mutter. Mrs. Weasley sat down on the bed and turned to her daughter thoughtfully, draping an arm around her shoulder.

"You know honey, he really just is another boy, he's no fairy tale. He needs friends just like you and me and Ron do." Ginny had never thought of it that way. To her Harry, though real, was hyper real. He had no need for friends. He had all the friends in the world, everyone loved him. Suddenly Ginny became jealous, she wanted to be his friend. Why did Ron get to be his friend when she didn't.

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	3. Hideout

"He WHAT!?" Ginny was mortified. What was she going to do!? There was no way, absolutely no way that she could sleep in the same house as Harry Potter.

"He is coming to stay later in the summer." Ron accentuated every word quite rudely, as if he was talking to a deaf person.

Nothing, nothing at all could have prepared her for that news. Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived, was going to be staying at the house. At HER house. She had thought about Harry a lot that past year, knowing that Ron was best friends with him, and she wanted to be too. Now, however, faced with the fact that she was going to be face to face with him, all she could think of was that she wished he was a fairy tale.

She spent the next few weeks of the summer with her ears perked for any mention of Harry. She would try (and fail miserably) to nonchalantly bring him up at the kitchen table, enticing anyone to tell her if and when he was coming. She had even come up with an ingenious plan of attack for his stay: she had been slowly storing treats in her room so that when the time came she could stage a camp out until he left, leaving her with minimal chance to encounter him.

When the summer was two thirds of the way over, she started to breathe a sigh of relief. There had been little mention of Harry. In fact, Harry hadn't written Ron once, a topic Ginny could tell was annoying Ron. It was starting to look like he wasn't going to be coming to the Burrow after all.

She awoke on the morning of August 1st to her mother's yells. She stuffed the pillow over her head, trying to drown them out, she really wanted to sleep. Her mother's voice became increasingly shrill, but she couldn't quite make out the words. Finally, enticed by what Fred and George could have done to elicit such a terrible wrath, she crawled out of bed and slipped on her slippers as she heard the voice end its tirade. She plodded down the steps, rubbing her eyes and running her hands through her messy hair.

She rounded the corner into the kitchen, "What's everyone--" She choked. Very audibly. Sitting in HER seat at the table, was none other than the raven haired boy with glasses and a lightning scar. Without another thought, she turned on her heel and ran up the stairs as fast as her legs could carry her. Not slowing until she had entered her room and locked the door.

She panicked. Why hadn't anyone told her? She should've been warned. She was thankful in the next couple of days that she had stocked up on rations for her room. She tried to only leave to go to the bathroom. She would slowly open her door, peek out, and run. Luckily the only bathroom in the house was across the hall, so it was an easy task. It had gone off without a hitch the first day.

She purposefully awoke the second day early, as to be able to use the bathroom before any certain person had awoken. She crept to her door and nudged it open. She looked left. She looked right. The coast was clear. She quickly lunged across the hall and tugged the door shut.

She was so proud of her genius plan. She had yet again successfully left her room without running into him. She smiled to herself in the bathroom mirror. Maybe this wasn't so hard after all? She gingerly and triumphantly opened the door to leave only to have her heart try to jump into her throat. There he was, standing in the hallway, waiting to use the bathroom, his hair a mess and his glasses on crooked. Little did she know that Harry was a cronic early riser. She froze, trapped.

Harry smiled feebly at her, looking nervous. He couldn't pinpoint why, but he felt extremely awkward in the stare of this young girl. She had piercing eyes. And she was staring at him like her life was ending. He had no idea what to do, she was blocking his way. Should he say something? He straightened his glasses to buy time.

She melted at the motion. He was wonderful.

"I…uh…" He lifted his hand to motion to the bathroom. But before he could utter another word, her freezing spell had vanished and she darted around him and pushed her door shut quickly behind her, locking it. She stood with her back to the door, panting heavily, petrified with embarressment. However, deep down in the darkest recesses of her brain, the smallest part of her was giggling. He was wonderful. He'd only uttered two disjointed sounds to her, but that was enough. She trance like made her way over to her bed and sat, hoping she'd wake up soon and that had all been a dream, but knowing it hadn't.

That day she decided to stop camping out in her room and join the family at meals again, much to the satisfaction of her mother. Mrs. Weasley was sick to death of Ginny's antics over the past couple of days.

She slowly came downstairs for breakfast and took her seat before anyone else was there. Her mother hugged her quickly, "Good morning, Dearie. What would you like?"

"Just toast with Marmalade." Ginny muttered.

"With eggs and bacon you will." Mrs. Weasley responded tartly. "I will not have my daughter starving herself." Ginny grunted in response. Just because she had decided to come out of her room didn't mean she was going to enjoy it.

Mrs. Weasley placed her plate in front of her and she began to eat as she heard two sets of footsteps on the steps. "_Please be Fred and George. Please be Fred and George_." Only to be disappointed as Ron rounded the corner followed by Harry. She became extremely interested in her eggs at that moment.

"Ginny, you're in Harry's spot." Ron said wittily and laughed to himself. She twinged so red it had to have been obvious.

Ron sat down next to her as she saw Harry take the place on the opposite of Ron through the corner of her eye. Her eye that was only, and would forever be only interested in her eggs and bacon.

"What'll you have boys?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

Ron piped up, "I'm so hungry! Can I have double bacon?"

"I'll just have toast with Marmalade." said Harry.

"With eggs and bacon you will. We've got to build you up, you're a little behind." Mrs. Weasley said as she handed both of the boys identical plates.

"That's because those muggles starve him! Isn't that right Harry?" Ron touted. From the corner of her eye she though she saw the raven haired boy flush. Mrs. Weasley must have caught it too because she quickly changed the subject.

"What at you boys up to today?" she asked politely.

Harry started, "Oh, um, we were thinking of playing some Quidditch and then, um--"

Mrs. Weasley butted in, "Well, that's lovely. Ron, don't forget who have to clean the soot out of the chimney today." Ron groaned in recognition. Harry laughed. He had a lovely laugh.


	4. No One Threatens Harry

What Ginny had understood to be a short visit quickly turned into a month long stay. Harry had taken over her home and she didn't know how she felt about it. It felt like she hadn't said a word in days, weeks even. Had she officially become a mute? Did her voice work anymore?

But then again, whenever this question would pop into her head she remembered how wonderful it was to sit silently at the dinner table and listen to Harry tell stories and make jokes along with her brothers. No one noticed she was in the room anyway, but being a fly on the wall was enough for her.

As the days drew nearer to Hogwarts, her anxiety about Harry lessened just slightly as her anxiety about starting school grew in her chest. She was so excited but petrified at the same time. What was it going to be like? Was she going to be sorted into Gryffindor? Oh goodness, what if she was sorted into Slytherin? Would her family disown her? How often would she run into Harry in such a big school?

These thoughts flew threw her head as she entered Flourish and Botts to buy her books with her mother. The crowd was huge as her mother let out an excited gasp.

"Ginny! Ginny look! It's Gilderoy Lockhart!" Her mother panted like a school girl. Ginny rolled her eyes. How could anyone act like that?

Listening to Gilderoy Lockhart was enjoyable, he surely was a captivating man with the whitest gleam on his teeth. She too was falling into the Lockhart trance when a rough bump to her shoulder broke her out of it. Harry was standing right next to her. However, before she could register much, Harry had been pulled onto the stage and in a flash was being clapped on the shoulder by Lockhart himself. He didn't look too happy and he quickly sulked off of the stage with his new stack of Lockhart books.

Then she noticed something nerve racking, eye contact. Those emerald orbs were locked with hers. And he was walking with purpose, right towards her. She stood frozen. He came quickly to her, what was he doing? He held out the books and in a trance like state she put out her arms. He dropped the books in her arms, mumbled something about her keeping the Lockhart books, and stalked off without a second look.

She stumbled as she adjusted her weight to accomodate the massive stacks of books that Harry had just given her. _"Walked right up and given to me!"_ She giggled inside her head. She had never been much of a reader, but she definitely loved books now. At least the ones in her arms, anyhow.

As she pulled herself together she felt another rough bump against her shoulder. She almost dropped her stack of books. She turned to see who the disturbance had been. This time, however, it was not Harry. It was a smug faced blonde boy who seemed to be getting into Harry's face. What was going on? Was he...was he threatening Harry?

_"Who would threaten Harry? No One Threatens Harry."_

Not knowing what her body was doing, she strode forward and butted her way in. She had no clue what words were coming out of her mouth but she was definitely speaking, backing Harry up.

The next thing she knew, though, she felt her face flush to a hundred degrees. "_Why Why WHY did I open my stupid mouth! Girlfriend? Did this BOY just call me Harry's Girlfriend!" _She was officially mortified. Harry had heard it, she had heard it. She wanted to be sick. Her head spun.

The next thing she knew she was being pulled from Flourish and Botts by her brothers. She was no longer carrying the large stack of books, it seemed her father had taken them from her, but he had a bloody nose?

"Dad? Uh?..." But she didn't get a chance to ask. Fred had pulled her back a few steps.

"Leave Dad alone for a bit. No one likes to be talked to after they've been brawling. Don't you know that?" Fred had a triumphant smile on his face. She had definitely missed something.

"What happened?" She asked, with a look of pure shock and confusion. Fred stared at her in disbelief.

"Are you KIDDING? Dad just beat the snot out of Lucius Malfoy! How did you miss that?! Are you sick?"

"No...no...I was just..uh...distracted." Failing to find anywhere else to place her attention, she turned her attention to the shopping basket that contained her other course books that had to have been bought second hand. The big brown ones and a very thin black one she hadn't remembered putting in the basket. Then again, she had just missed her dad slugging a guy so maybe her memory wasn't too reliable that given moment.

"Did you see that! Dad just pounced him!" she heard Ron whisper from behind. She glimpsed back to see Ron as elated as Fred had been. Harry, however, looked like he too had been hit with a stunning spell. He looked exactly how Ginny felt.

Ginny's thoughts turned directly back to where her mind had been for the last five minutes, hoping that Harry hadn't also been permanently mortified by that insufferable blonde boy's remark about 'Harry's Girlfriend'. She sighed. He probably hadn't even heard it.

"He's got much more important things on his mind" she thought as she sighed, scolding herself.


	5. A New Friend

The arm that was wrapped around her twitched, bringing her out of her head and back to reality in his old four poster bed. She ran her finger up and down each scar and bruise on his arm. The hair on it was singed in places from Merlin only knows what. A dragon maybe? She was still yet to find out if that was true. There was so much more to find out. His body had endured quite a lot in those last hours. She eased her slim body around to look at his face. In contrast to his body, his face was so serene. So at rest. Maybe more at rest than she had ever seen him. He had definitely aged in the year since she had seen him, but in his sleep he still retained that beautiful innocence that radiated from deep within. She touched his cheek lightly, he didn't flinch, he was in such a deep sleep. She traced her fingers around up his cheek and brushed his extremely long raven hair out of his face, revealing his scar. She ran her finger over it, over the mark that man had put on him. And she could feel deep inside of her the pain she herself had endured, for she too beared the scars of Tom Riddle. It was there inside her, though not nearly as visible as a stark scar would be on her face. But it was there.

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The train ride on the Hogwarts Express was a lonely one. She settled into a compartment by herself and took out her books, just to flip through them to pass the time. One by one she perused her lessons for the year, recieving some with excitement, some with boredom (which she would abandon immediately) and some with dread. At the bottom of her stack of books was the thin black one. She opened it, and to her surprise she found it empty.

"A diary!' She exclaimed to herself. Mum must have slipped it in as a secret present. She didn't quite understand why someone would buy a diary second hand (it was definitely an old book), but she was excited none the less. She had wanted a diary for quite some time now. She was never much one for talking through her feelings with others, which probably came from growing up with six oafs for brothers. But if she had learned one thing in the past summer it was that staying cooped up and not talking at all was terrible. So maybe a diary was the middle ground she needed.

She flipped through the pages to find an inscription from her mother, but there was nothing there. She didn't think too much of it. There were seven Weasley children, her Mum was bound to forget something as small as writing a little note inside her gift.

She excitedly got out the first quill she could find, popped open a fresh bottle of ink, careful to balance it on her lap so that the bumps of the train wouldn't topple it over. She dipped her quill, tapped it off, and placed it to the paper.

_**September 1st, Hogwarts Express**_

As soon as she wrote the words, they dissapeared. She tried again.

_**September 1st, Hogwarts Express**_

Again, gone. Maybe Fred and George had snuck this present for her, it seemed more their style. She decided to try again. But maybe something different.

_**Good day! My name is Ginny Weasley**_

The same. Gone. She sighed. But then her eyes grew wide as she saw, scrawling onto the paper in a writing unlike her's, a message.

**Hello Ginny, I am Tom Riddle**

"_My Diary has his own name?"_ She thought suspiciously. This HAD to be given to her by Fred and George. What a weird gift. She shut the book and put it back on the pile.

People came in and out of her compartment that day, no one stayed long and they usually came in groups, sat and gossiped for a few moments, and headed out. It was a lonely day. The sweets cart had gone by earlier, depressing Ginny further as she had no money for any such thing. Practically dying of boredom, she conceded to giving her new diary another shot.

_**Tom? Hi? Are you my diary?**_

**I'm anything you want me to be.**

_**Oh, okay. Well. What to tell you dia--uh, Tom. I'm eleven**_

**Eleven is a good age**

_**Thanks! Well, yes, I'm eleven and I'm starting my first day at Hogwarts tomorrow. I'm super excited and nervous and scared.**_

**That's wonderful Ginny**

_**The excited or the scared part**_

**Well, you don't know what you're getting yourself into so you should be scared.**

_**Yeah, Tom, I guess you're right. I'm just nervous this year and all. I'm the youngest in my family**_...

The conversation, if you could call it that, continued into the dusk, Ginny gaining more and more confidence in the diary. She told it, or him, rather, about her brothers, parents, even--

_**He's fascinated me since I was really little. I mean, he KILLED You-Know-Who! As a baby! Whenever I get around him I turn into a tounge tied toad.**_

**Tell me more**

"_This is going to be the beginning of a beautiful friendship"_ She smiled as she continued to write into the dark.

* * *

As the weeks went on, Ginny confided more and more to Tom. Her writings were now almost completely focused on her slight obsession with Harry, but Tom didn't seem to mind. She was feeling ill though, run down, and she was getting paranoid. Probably from all of the classwork she was having thrust on her. Never had she thought that first years would be so overworked.

It wasn't until she woke up on the tile of the bathroom floor covered in blood that she thought something was wrong with her. Maybe she'd started to realize a bit too late that things had been odd. She heaved herself up, looked around, down at herself, and couldn't help being sick. The mortification of how she looked and the knowledge that she didn't know where it had come from was too much for her stomach to handle. She calmed herself down, showered, had a good cry, and ran to her diary to write about it.

**_Tom, I don't know what happened. There was blood everywhere._**

**Don't worry Ginny, I'm sure it was nothing at all. **

**_But it was-_**

**It was nothing**

This cycle continued for months. Ginny was feeling fatigued. She couldn't sleep, had trouble eating and paying attention in class, and had a terrible feeling about what was going on around her. The school was in turmoil. The Chamber of Secrets had been opened and though she had no idea what it was, she had a horrific feeling about it. The only thing keeping her sane was her diary. There she could write about her deepest fears, her embarressments, anything. Harry had been accused by so many students for petrifying the students by way of the Chamber of Secrets and she felt terrible about it. She wanted to help him, clear his name, but she could do nothing. She knew it wasn't him. He wouldn't do that, but who would?

That was when it dawned on her. None of the other First Years were having the problems she was. No one else was a mess like her. What could it be?

**Just tell me what you're scared of.**

**_I'm scared it's me._**

**But it could be Harry**

**_IT IS NOT!_**

That was it. Tom had gone over the line. She didn't know what was happening but she knew something was wrong and she'd do anything to fix it. Present or not (she hadn't yet found out which family member had given her the diary), she needed to see if not writing down her thoughts would be better for her. So she tossed it out.

The next two weeks were wonderful. She was feeling exponentially better. She could focus, she was talking, making friends, the Chamber of Secrets business had been quiet, the color was returning to her cheeks, the year was starting to turn normal. It was turning in the Hogwarts she wanted. That was, until Valentine's Day.


	6. A Loving Nightmare

"Oooh!" Laura prodded Ginny in the rib at the announcement, "You should send one to Harry!"

Ginny grimaced. Things had been on the upswing for her lately. She had definitely started to feel more like herself once she was no longer writing to Tom. She had started talking again, laughing, things just felt right. And, most importantly, she was FINALLY enjoying Hogwarts. Maybe it had just been that she was having a hard time adjusting to her new surroundings? She wasn't sure, but she was happy that it had passed.

She decided that the most important thing was to make some friends, something she had definitely not done yet. Her roommate Laura seemed to take to her immediately once she began talking. Laura didn't seem to have too many friends either. But then again she was quite the chatterbox so it was to be understood that people might, um, shy away from her.

At this very moment, sitting in the Great Hall, Ginny was kicking herself for ever having told Laura about her crush on Harry. She had only mentioned it once, but Laura latched onto the information like a vulture.

"Ginny, no really! It would be the best way to get him to notice you!"

"But I don't really WANT him to notice me. Everytime he does notice me I feel like I'm going to burp up a slug. And well, Laura, I don't really want to burp up any slugs and--" But she wasn't able to finish her sentence as Laura clamped onto her forearm and dragged her to the front of the Great Hall.

"Professor Lockhart, we'd like one of your best singing dwarves please!" Ginny tried to free her arm from Laura's maniacal grip, but to no avail.

"Well, of course Miss Fitter! Take that one right over there." Lockhart pointed to a rather brawny looking dwarf holding a pink bow and arrow. Ginny was going to hex Laura into oblivion for this.

Laura pushed Ginny to the ground in front of the dwarf. She spun around to scan the Gryffindor table, thankfully all of her brothers as well as Harry were no longer seated there. Laura sat down beside her, pulling out her quill.

"Now, I happen to think that I'm quite a good poet, so, if you'd like, I can help you write the perfect Valentine song." Laura sang cheerfully, not registering the blazing lazers being shot through her body by two loathful eyes. "Right, now, hmm, how shall we start--"

"We shouldn't start, this is ludi--"

"I know! Your eyes.." she began to write, the troll grunted, Ginny grunted along with him.

"Are like a fresh pickled toad??" Ginny spat back. Maybe sabotaging the poem would make this ridiculousness stop.

"That's perfect! See, you're good at this!" Laura squealed. A squeal that was meant with an impatient snort from Ginny.

"Are you serious?"

"Well, you said it. I think it's great. Hmm, we've got his eyes. Now what?"

Ginny stared at her. Lip bit in silence. She was not going to speak another word.

"Ooh, Hair! He has really cool hair..."

Before Ginny knew it, Laura had finished the utterly horrid poem and handed it to the dwarf.

"If you sign my name to that I will put you in a full body bind." Ginny growled as she stood up and stalked away. Laura giggled.

"You'll thank me when you're Ginny Potter!" but Ginny didn't respond, she shot to the door and left for class. Laura, regretfully, heeded her warning and decided to leave the poem anonymous, and dashed off after Ginny.

_"Nothing, NOTHING could be worse than Harry enduring that awful poem."_ Ginny thought later that day, flushing to herself as she rounded the corner that afternoon on her way to History of Magic. But she was mistaken. One thing, and one thing only was indeed worse, and she walked right into it.

Standing in the hallway, blocking traffic, was none other than that beautiful raven haired boy himself, being pinned down by...the dwarf. The brawny, terrible, pink bow carrying dwarf. And in the dwarf's hand, the very piece of parchment she feared.

She covered her ears not to hear the terrible song emanating from the dwarf. Her face was burning, and her lip was bleeding from a deep bite she had inflicted on herself. She watched as Harry listened, as everyone in the corridor listened. And then she spotted it.

All of the heat from her face drained and she shot white as a sheet. The diary. Her diary. That terrible boy Malfoy bent down, snatched it up, and rifled through the pages. But she didn't care, that didn't matter. What mattered was where it had been before. Harry's bag. HARRY'S bag.

She shot a glance at Harry, mortified, and her heart sank as she caught his eye. His deep emerald eyes locked with hers as she struggled to breathe. He knew. He knew everything. Tom must have told him everything. He told him her wishes, her little Harry dreams. Tom showed him the hearts Ginny had drawn around the letters HP + GW. She knew it, it had to be.

As quickly as Harry caught her eye, he broke the contact and she watched the diary shoot through the air and into Ron's hands. RON. This was getting worse, SO much worse.

"See! He liked it!" Laura jumped up from behind her, giggling. But Ginny said nothing, she watched as Ron handed the book straight back into the enemy's hands. Into Harry's hands. Laura grabbed Ginny's arm and began to drag her off to class. To Ginny's amazement, her feet started to move. But then, to add insult to the worst injury, bellowing at the top of his lungs, was Malfoy.

"I don't think Potter liked your Valentine much!" He sneered as he stalked away. The blood that had drained shot right back up, flushing her in a way she had never felt. Laughter, everywhere. She wanted the wall to swallow her right there.

But, in all honesty, only one thing mattered. "_Get Back The Diary"_


	7. Lost and Found

Sweating, she stood at the threshold. Her heart beat savagely inside her chest as she mentally checked off the whereabouts of each boy who lived in the dorm, convincing herself that she had five minutes to perform her task. Taking a deep breath she nudged the door open. As she had expected, the room was empty. It was time for business.

She frantically threw herself into the direction of Harry's bed. She knew the unique look of his trunk from the month he had stayed at their home. Popping it open she dug, carefully at first, but became more and more hasty and savage as time ticked away.

"UGH!" She growled, pushing a thick strand of her firey hair out of her face, not accepting defeat. It had to be there. She knew it. She dove into his book bag. Nothing. Under his pillow. Nothing. Moving back to the trunk, she threw his things this way and that until she came upon--a Weasley sweater. She couldn't help but laugh as her concentration was broken by the fact that he, The Harry Potter, owned a Weasley sweater. And it was SO much nicer than any of the ones Mum had ever made her. She grabbed for it and immediately noticed that it was hard. Rather, it concealed something hard. Unwrapping it frantically, her heart skipped. She had found it. Tom was in her possession once again.

Quickly, she looked around, wishing that she had learned a spell to clean this mess up. She felt terrible leaving his room in so much disarray but she really had no choice. Without a second thought she jumped up and started to shoot out of the room, diary...and sweater in tow.

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It was cold. It was very cold as she shuddered and opened her eyes. She had absolutely no clue where she was, or why she was there, but she had a sickening feeling that she knew how she had gotten there and her heart dropped out of her chest. Was she going to die? She blinked frantically as she heard footsteps jogging toward her.

She gasped. It was him. Harry. He was smattered with blood and sweat, carrying a sword. Odd. She'd find out later. More importantly, he was carrying the book. The Book. It was stabbed? And bleeding? She didn't understand, nor did she think it keen to try, but the look of relief on his face was startling. Something, something big had happened. He shot to her side and slid down beside her, his eyes boring holes into hers. It was too much for her to take. She was so ashamed, so petrified, so terribly embarressed. Nonsensical words stammered out of her mouth as she felt her body lose control.

Harry was lost, he didn't know what to do. He had just fought a Basilisk and Tom Riddle but when it came to the small girl bawling in front of him, he knew he couldn't win. Feebly, he held up the diary, tried to tell her that it would be alright, and held out his hand.

For a moment, to his amazement, there was silence. Then she grasped his hand like she was holding on to life itself. She felt a wave of fear leave her as he pulled her up. She didn't know how it happened, but at that moment, she knew. It was over. Harry had saved her.

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As she laid awake in the middle of the night in hospital wing, she couldn't help but giggle to herself. Ginny would have never for one minute called herself a girly girl or a damsel in distress. But despite her disinterest in the basic fairy tale, the eleven year old couldn't help but notice the parallel. She had awoken in a dark room, after being captured, to be saved by a man (or rather boy, in this case) vanquishing a beast to save her. With a sword. The mold fit perfectly. Harry was her knight in shining armour. For real.

But why? Why did he come? To save her? She racked her brain for an answer but none came.

Suddenly she was ripped back to reality by a light cough. She wasn't alone. She sat up in the darkened hospital wing to see a shape in the next bed. Of course, she remembered now. The blood on his robes had been his. He was fidgeting. Was he awake?

Before she knew it, "Harry?", she leaned up to get a closer look.

He was startled by the mention of his name, surely she couldn't be awake. He leaned up to come face to face with the little red head. Even in the dark he saw her face flush slightly.

"Yeah, Ginny?"

She paused. She truly hadn't expected him to be awake. He stared at her with the look of utter surprise. His hair disheveled, his eyes a glow. She choked.

"Uh--"

"Yeah?"

"Um," She swallowed. What do you say to the person who just saved your life??

"Thank you." She squeaked out and quickly laid back down.

"Well. You're Welcome, Gin." Her heart flipped. For such a terrible, life altering experience, it did have it's silver lining. He had called her Gin.


	8. Comfort and the Cauldron

Standing in the lobby of the Leaky Cauldron, her hand gripped firmly on the handle of her trunk, she couldn't have been happier. Egypt had been amazing. It was exactly what she had needed from her summer. Being with her family, getting endless broom rides from Bill (and when no one was looking, broom rides with herself), seeing crazy Egyptian sites, it was better than any summer she had ever had. She even got to celebrate her 12th birthday inside a pyramid! Okay, so it was actually a tent charmed to look like a pyramid, her Mum thought a real pyramid was a bit too dangerous for a twelve year olds birthday party, but being able to celebrate her birthday with her entire family was more than enough to make up for it.

By the end of her summer, Ginny felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. She was so ready to go back to Hogwarts, so ready to do it right this time. She wanted to learn and make friends, and actually have FUN. Tom felt like what he was- a memory. Not quite yet a distant memory, she still had common nightmares about him and the things that had occured. But she was determined to put it behind her.

The Leaky Cauldron was busy as her brothers traipsed in after her and started lugging their trunks up the stairs to their rooms. She smirked as she looked around, thinking about how a year ago the idea of the Weasleys being able to afford four rooms at the Leaky Cauldron would have been scoffed at.

"Oh, now that's no problem! Hermione, you can stay with Ginny tonight." She spun around, smiling as she caught a glimpse of Hermione standing with her parents and Mrs. Weasley.

"Mrs. Weasley, we really appreciate it. I tried to make a reservation for her, but, er, I wasn't actually sure how to _call_ this place." Hermione's mum gave a meek smile.

"Pardon?" Obviously, the idea of _calling _someplace was beyond Mrs. Weasley. "Well, It's no problem at all, I didn't want Ginny staying alone anyway, so we're both doing eachother a favor!"

"Well, thank you again." Hermione's mum said as Mrs. Weasley smiled and walked away.

The idea of spending the night with Hermione wasn't a bad one, but it was a little nerve racking as Ginny had never really _talked_ to Hermione. Well, not alone at least. She seemed nice enough, and Ron sure did seem to like her, so she'd give her a chance. She lugged her trunk to the stairs as she watched Ron and Hermione run off toward Diagon Alley.

As she heaved up the first step she felt strong hands grab over hers on her trunk handle, "Gin, you really think you should be pulling this up yourself?"

"Fred! Let me do it!" She groaned as she heaved it up the first step, the second step, the third step. Stopping to wipe her brow, she noticed that her brother had taken the hint. It took about five minutes to get the trunk up the steps but once she did she felt great. She wasn't a little girl anymore, and six brothers or not, she wasn't going to let other people do things for her if she could do them herself. She wasn't weak.

Her mum proceeded to drag her around that day so that she could get all of her new things, and that was the exciting part: _new_ things. For once in her life she had her own tailored set of robes, and quills that hadn't been gnawed on by her brothers. She had a sneaking suspicion that it wouldn't last but she decided to enjoy it while it did.

As they re-entered the Leaky Cauldron that evening, weighed down by shopping bags, all of her months of strength shot from her. There he was, talking animatedly to her brother and Hermione. She'd almost forgotten about him. Okay, that was a complete lie, but she hadn't doted...much...during the summer. She had been enjoying her family too much. The occasional utterance of his name from Ron as they ran around the desert had made her stomach twinge but for the most part she had accepted that he was a real boy, an extravagant one at that, but a real boy none the less. She had decided late one night to stop acting like a scared little puppy around him. But as he walked over to greet her and her family, all of that washed from her. Her scared puppy look shot red onto her face as she uttered a hello and looked at her shuffling feet. As he shook hands with Percy she glanced up, quickly. He had grown. He wasn't nearly as tall as Ron, but he definitely had shot up a couple of inches. He scanned the family, locking eyes with her briefly, giving her a soft smile, causing her face to catch fire even more.

She quickly trotted up the stairs to her room to drop off her things. Sitting on the bed, she shook her head. She couldn't believe it! After this whole summer of being strong and happy, he melted her in one second. Not that she wasn't happy, honestly, she didn't really know what she was, but it was definitely different from how she had felt every minute up until then. This was going to be harder than she thought.

At that moment the door opened, Hermione peeked in and smiled, seemingly waiting to be granted entrance.

"Hi." Ginny said meekly, still preoccupied.

Hermione stepped in and shut the door. "Hi Ginny. Er? You okay?"

"Oh! Oh! yeah! I'm fine. Just, uh," She snatched the a new book from one of her shopping bundles, "Just, uh, looking at my new school books."

"Ooh!" Hermione made a bee line for the bed, plopped the bushy orange cat she'd been carrying onto the bed, scooted the bundles to the side and sat down next to Ginny. "What book are you looking at right now?" She asked, as if asking what Ginny had gotten for Christmas.

"Uh," she glanced down to the random book in her hand.

But Hermione cut her off, "Oh! The new Defense Against the Dark Arts book! I'm can't wait to meet who the new Professor. I wonder if he'll be as good as Professor Lockhart."

"What are you talking about? Lockhart was a fake!"

"I know, I know, but he did tell neat stories." Obviously, Lockhart smile hadn't quite worn out of Hermione's mind.

"Well, I hope we have a good professor this year, I'm really interested in learning more about defense."

"Heh, that would be nice." Hermione said, followed by an awkward silence. Ginny wasn't the only one who had taken note that the two girls had never spent time alone before. Hermione didn't really know what to say to Ginny, as she had always noticed that Ginny was a very quiet girl. What Hermione hadn't figured out was that she usually had been around Ginny when Harry was there too, thus the reason for her silence.

"So, uh...how was your summer? Did you like Egypt?"

"I LOVED Egypt! It was amazing!" Ginny touted, and swung her legs onto the bed to sit cross legged, facing Hermione to tell her all about it. From there the girls told about their summers, laughed, gossiped about the people in their respective years, talked about Hermione's new cat, and generally hit it off better than either of them thought possible.

It felt so nice for Ginny to talk to another girl who wasn't obsessed with giggling and doing her hair. For Hermione it felt nice to talk to a girl at all, for she very rarely surrounded herself with them.

After what had only seemed like an instant, there was a knock on the door. "Come in!" they rang.

The door opened revealing Ron and Harry, "Mum sent us up. It's time for dinner." Ron looked utterly bewildered, "Have you guys been up here _talking_ this whole time? Mione, I've been looking for you everywhere!"

"Well, sorry Ron, but I was having a lovely afternoon here with Ginny." Hermione retorted, she seemed sore about something. Ron caught a glimpse of Ginny and sneered at her, as Ginny was gingerly petting the new cat, Crookshanks.

"This cat really is so lovely, Hermione!' She grinned, noting the sneer on her brothers face grow. Behind him she heard Harry stifle a laugh. She grinned wider.

"Okay, lets go downstairs. Crookshanks, you be good now." Ginny patted the cat a final time and got off of the bed.

They all filed down the stairs, Hermione having run to the front of their little caravan, and she was following Harry down the stairs. And she was doing a good job of not thinking about it too much. Until they got down stairs and they filed into their seats for dinner, leaving her, at the end of the line, with the last seat, right next to Harry. She sighed and took her seat. Not knowing why she felt embarressed, but allowing herself to feel it all the same.

Dinner was a joyous occasion, Fred and George were ceaselessly poking fun at the new Head Boy, Percy, much to the distaste of Mrs. Weasley. Much to the pleasure of everyone else.

"Can you pass me the butter?" came a voice in her left ear. Her head shot to the side, catching his eye.

"Uh, uh Yeah." she shook her head and reached the butter, handing it to him. Thankful that their exchange had been short.

"So, are you excited to start second year?" her heart raced, her eyes grew wide. Small talk. With Harry.

"Well..." she paused, "It's gonna be better than last year. That's for sure."

"Yeah..." Harry said awkwardly.

"Um.. you? Are you, uh, excited for third year?" Since when did she have a speech impediment?

"Honestly, I'm just happy to be anywhere but the Dursley's."

"I bet, they sound pretty awful." She hesitated for a second and then whispered, "Is it true that you blew up your aunt?"

"...yeah."

Ginny couldn't help herself, a laugh erupted from her.

"So, did she like, explode? Or.."

"No, she just blew up like a balloon."

"Did, like, buttons pop off of her and stuff?"

"Oh, definitely! And her ring flew off. And her glasses. It actually was pretty funny. I just thought I was going to be expelled for it."

"I wish I could blow up my aunt. She terrible. She constantly telling me that I should have been born a boy," and doing a spot on impression of Aunt Muriel, she croaked, "It's the Weasley way."

"Aw, well, I think you're just fine as a girl."

"Um...Thank you?"

"Hey Harry! You've got to tell us all about blowing up your aunt!" George shot across the table. Which Mrs. Weasley put an immediate stop to. But at that Harry was distracted, and their little conversation had been brought to an end.

Ginny sat in silence for the rest of dinner, pondering what it meant that Harry thought she was fine as a girl, and quickly excused herself upstairs to pack her new things into her trunk.

She laid in bed that night, twisting, turning, Tom invaded her sleep. She shot up.

"Ginny, are you okay?" Hermione started, she had obviously woken her.

"Oh, sorry, yeah, just a bad dream." She shook her head and laid back down.

"Sorry, you want to talk about it?"

"No, not really. Thanks though."

"Okay, just know you can. I'll listen." Hermione patted Ginny on the hand as she rolled over to go back to sleep. Ginny smiled. She'd made her first new friend.


	9. Best Friend Big Mouth

"Well? What are you going to be?" Laura whined.

"I told you! I don't know what you're talking about!" Ginny had had enough, Laura had been badgering her for days about some _costume_ for Halloween. She had just today finally realized that there had to have been some Muggle/Wizard miscommunication as Laura had grown up in a muggle family.

"I'm going to be a princess!" Laura chatted at Ginny, ignoring her lack of enthusiam on the subject.

"Well, I hate to break it to you, but I think you're going to look pretty stupid dressed up like a princess considering everyone else will be dressed up as, well, a Hogwarts student."

"What are you talking about?" Did she seriously not get it?

"Laura," Ginny breathed deeply, and gaining some patience, put her book down as she sat up on the edge of her bed, "Did you by chance notice last year what everyone else went to the Halloween feast as?"

"What? Well, no. I do know that I DID happen to have the best costume at the Gryffindor table though!"

"That's because you had the ONLY costume at the Gryffindor table."

"Huh?" Silence. "Oh." Laura's face fell as she finally put the pieces together. "Is this like the time when you told me you couldn't give me your phone number because you didn't have one?"

"Yes. Exactly like that." Ginny breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh. I just thought you told me that so that I couldn't call you over the summer."

"No, I told you that because wizard homes don't have those...call...boxes."

"Phones?"

"Yeah. And we don't wear costumes for Halloween either." Laura looked a bit hurt.

"Not that it's a bad idea. It does sound kind of fun." Laura still looked like she was going to cry. "Tell you what," Ginny sighed and urged herself to smile, "If we ever find ourselves out in the muggle world on Halloween, I will happily dress up with you."

"Really? Great!" Laura giggled, immediately forgetting her momentary sadness. Ginny really wished that it hadn't been a Hogsmeade day. Or, she wished she had been a third year too so that she could have gone with Ron and Hermione. But with Hermione away for the day, she had to settle for Laura. All day.

"I'm going to head down to lunch, you coming?" Ginny asked as she stood up.

"I'll be down in a minute, I've just got to, uh, get these glitter streaks out of my hair." Ginny stifled a laugh, Laura's hair had already been princessified for the evening.

"Okay, see you later." She said as she trotted out the door.

The Great Hall was depressingly empty. She stood for a moment, noting that there wasn't really anyone of interest to eat lunch with. She settled at a deserted chunk of the table and filled her plate. She pulled out her book as her arm was bumped. She swivled around.

"Hi Ginny," Harry said awkwardly as he looked up and down the table. "Um...do you mind if I eat lunch with you? Ron and Hermione are in Hogsme--"

"Yeah!" she shouted, maybe a bit too enthusiastically, "Of...Of course."

"Thanks." He settled in next to her. "So, uh, how have you been?" He asked, ruffling his mop of hair, a small look of strain on his face.

"Okay. I, uh" _say something interesting! _"I beat Ron at Wizard chess last night." she said feebly.

"I saw that! I didn't know it was possible."

"Well, I was playing with Fred's chess set, and they play really dirty. But they like me, see, Fred talked me up to them. Plus, Fred's set has never liked Ron's set. So it was actually a pretty easy win." She smiled, Harry laughed.

"I should ask Fred if I can borrow his set sometime. I'm miserable at Wizard chess."

"Yeah, you are pretty bad."

He laughed again, "Thanks." he said, nudging her, making her drop her fork in surprise. She smiled.

_I made him laugh!_

"So-" She started, but wasn't able to finish as she saw Laura bounding over to them. Despite her disappointment that her lunch with Harry was destined to be interrupted, Ginny couldn't help but bust into a laugh. Laura's hair, which had been a mousy brown just fifteen minutes prior, was now the starkest blonde.

Laura stopped short, noticing that Ginny was with Harry, but then jumped into the seat on the other side of Ginny. "The charm I used backfired a bit. But I kind of like this! What do you think?" She leaned over the table to Harry. Harry stared at her, having no idea who the girl even was or what she was talking about.

"It's...nice." he muttered.

Laura shoveled food onto her plate as she blabbered on about this and that, leaving no room for either of them to get a word in edgewise. Not that Harry wanted to, he was entranced that someone could even have that many words in their head. Ginny, on the other hand, was trying at the end of every other sentence to jump in. Ginny was starting to get increasingly nervous about Laura's never ending monologue. She was used to it, but Harry, not so much.

"--But all in all, that's why I LOVE Halloween! Don't you guys? Well, really, I love all Holidays. Christmas is my favorite of course, and then maybe Easter. But Ooh! Valentine's Day is great too! We had a great Valentine's Day last year, didn't we Gin? What with sending Harry that Valen--" But she was cut off as Ginny's head slammed into the table, not once, but three times in a row.

"What?" Laura asked, and then turned white as a sheet in the realization of what she had done. It was hard to tell who had turned more red, Ginny or Harry. If it had been a contest to see who's face was brighter, Ginny would have only won due to the big red welt that was forming on her forehead from banging it into the table. She stared at her food in the silence.

"Um..thanks for letting me eat lunch with you Ginny. I'll, uh, talk to you later." Harry stammered as he got up from the table and slunk away.

After an eternity of silence, Ginny turned her head in a slow burn to Laura. Laura bit her lip.

"You are so lucky I left my wand upstairs."


	10. Use Your Words

"Ugh! I could have just snapped her neck!" Ginny had riled herself up again. It had been three days since the 'incident', but she just couldn't pull herself down from it. Even with everything going on in the castle, she couldn't get her mind off of it. Things had been going so well too! She was finally able to talk to him. She could Enjoy his company as a person. But with one stupid sentence, that all flew out the window.

"And it's not even like I still feel that way." Ginny stated defiantly. Hermione gave her a wary look.

"Really?"

"Okay. You know I still fancy him in some way, but DEFINITELY not in the way I did last year. I just want to stop being such a pansy when he's around. And it was working! But then Laura had to open her stupid mouth and--"

"Gin, I think you need to calm down. Let's look at this rationally. I know Harry really well, and I know that he's not going to think badly of you. I mean, he already kind of knew that you had sent it to him."

"But that's the worst part! I DIDN'T send it to him! Laura wrote the stupid thing and I couldn't get her to drop it."

"I really don't think it's that big of a deal. Really. That was almost a year ago." Hermione wasn't being helpful. Ginny never took well to rationality.

Ginny sighed, "I just want him to notice me." That was all, and she knew it.

"Ummm...he does."

"Yeah, but he notices me as the little Weasley sister. The one to talk to when all of the other Weasleys aren't around."

Hermione bit her lip and hesitated, "You know what I think?"

"What?" She growled.

"You're not going to like it."

"Just say it."

"I think you should just let it go. I don't think Harry even knows what a girl is right now."

Ginny snickered. That point was definitely true. "I'm not pining after him, you know."

"I didn't say that. I'm just saying that maybe you shouldn't focus on him. Stop caring a little bit. There are so many more interesting people in this school. Not to say that Harry isn't interesting, but.." There was an awkward pause. Ginny knew Hermione was right.

"I just feel so stupid when I'm made a fool of in front of him."

"Oh, just stop caring. Harry's a stupid little git." Both of the girls laughed.

Ginny sighed, "I'll try."

"Good. Now do you want help with this transfiguration or not?" Hermione giggled as they went back to their books.

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It seemed that all that she needed was a swift kick in the knickers, because after that little talk it all became a bit easier. By the end of her second year she had made friends with a group of Ravenclaw girls and shyed away from the big mouthed Laura. Her new Ravenclaw friends, Billy and Catherine, were much more witty and dry in their humor, much more like her. She slightly regretted ever having been sorted into Gryffindor, thinking that her wit slightly outweighed her courage. But, then again, her stupid Weasley bloodline had probably tipped the scale on that one.

Spring easily faded to summer and she found herself back at the Burrow once more. She enjoyed a lazy summer, filled with secretly helping Fred and George with their concoctions, and secretly stealing Fred and George's brooms while they were working on their concoctions. Ginny had always been a lover of flying, but hadn't been allowed to fly by her mother. Being the only girl did have it's draw backs. But this summer her love for flying had grown into a secret minor obsession. Maybe it was the fact that the Quidditch World Cup was coming up and she was one of the lucky people who was going to be in attendance. Even though the tickets had not been intended for her birthday, she couldn't help but think that it was the best way to ring in turning thirteen.

As she flew around the homemade pitch, minding to keep low in order to shield off eyes from the house, she smiled. She never felt more at home anywhere but on a broom. She just wished she could have her own. After quite some time, she landed and stealthily snuck back to the broomshed to drop off George's broom. She combed down her hair with her hands, and headed into the house.

"Hermione!" she screamed, and ran to hug her friend. "I thought you wern't coming until tomorrow!"

"Oh, well, mum and dad booked themselves full through the weekend, so I didn't feel like waiting around my house an extra day. My stuff's already up in your room. I hope you don't mind."

"No, of course not. So, are you excited for the World Cup?" Ginny could hardly keep herself from bouncing in anticipation, it was just the next day. After waiting all summer, it was finally here.

"Oh, um, yeah. It'll be fun." Hermione stuttered, with much less enthusiasm than was necessary for such an exciting experience. "Happy Birthday by the way!" She changed the subject masterfully, "Did you like my present?"

"Oh, yeah, it was great. I didn't know that there was that much to know on Hogwarts." Now it was Ginny's turn to sound less enthusiastic than necessary.

"Well, I think every Hogwarts student should read Hogwarts: A History. It really is quite fascinating." She beamed and they trotted up the stairs to get Hermione settled in. But once at the top of the stairs they heard Mr. Weasley, shrill voiced, scolding someone, probably the twins. They smirked and snuck back down the stairs to check out the scene. But Mrs. Weasley had beaten them there by a second. Standing in the living room was Ron, Fred, George, Mr. Weasley, and Harry. Mr. Weasley looked livid. Harry looked over and caught glimpse of the two girls behind Mrs. Weasley. He smiled and waved at Ginny, his emerald eyes dancing in the light. She couldn't help but smile back, feeling her face flush. Regardless of the fact that she had 'moved on' from the topic of Harry, she couldn't stop being at least somewhat smitten by him.

The sky box that they were seated in was incredible. She couldn't have dreamed it any better. Well, if she could, she would have dreamed it without Malfoy, but other than that it was perfect. Ireland was up 150 to 30. Ron, Hermione, Harry and Ginny were pushed up as could as possible to the barrier, trying to take in each and every movement.

"Whoa! Did you see that Wronksi Feint?! That was amazing! Krum is so good!" She yelled as she smacked Harry's shoulder.

"Yeah, that was-- You know what a Wronksi Feint is?" He looked utterly bewildered.

"What, don't you?"

"Well, of course. You follow Quidditch?"

She didn't look at him once, the game was too important, "Yeah. Since I was six. My room is completely decked out in the Holyhead Harpies."

"The Holyhead Harpies?"

"You know, for such a good seeker, you know absolutely nothing about Quidditch." She shot a quick smile at him.

"Oh, come on, I live with muggles. Give me a break--Whoa, did you see that?!"

"Can your Firebolt do that, Harry?" He gave her a push as he went back to the game.

The walk back to the campsite was a long one, and it was getting dark. But the buzz of the crowd made it bearable.

She had walked in silence for a few minutes, slowly coming down from her Quidditch high, when out of nowhere, Harry trotted up beside her.

"So, Ginny, do you fly then?"

She hesitated, "I know how." There was no way she was going to give up her secret. Even if it was Harry. Seriously, it's not like she told him much anyway, she couldn't even really remember the last time she had talked to him. But, somehow, it was easier now.

"So you're saying you're just an enthusiastic spectator?"

She grimaced, there was no way someone was going to call the flying into question, whether they knew or not, "I did not say that."

"Oh, okay, so you fly then."

"Harry, I just told you, I do fly, yes."

"Because Ron told me you didn't know how." She was caught.

"That's because I...I don't fly with the boys." she stammered.

"Do you have a broom then?"

"I, uh, I borrow the Cleansweeps." She paused, "Please don't tell my brothers. They'd kill me."

"You're secret's safe with me." he smiled.

"I really wish I had my own, though."

"Hey, how about as a late birthday present I let you fly my Firebolt, would that be fun?" She stopped in her tracks, her mouth agape.

"That. Would be. Amazing."


	11. Firebolt Fury

"Okay, now, so the Firebolt is an extremely sensitive broom. To call it to yourself--"

"Are you trying to teach me broom handling, Potter?"

He choked, "Well, no, it's just...Gin, I'm sorry, this broom is like my baby. I just get a little nervous whenever anyone else touches it."

Ginny sighed, "Fine. Tell me how to mount the broom, then."

"Okay." He held the beautiful Firebolt out to her. She grasped it, but he didn't let go. She could tell that he was having a huge internal battle over letting her fly it.

He gulped. Could he really just _let _her fly it? He couldn't even remember seeing her fly before.

"Listen." He pulled it away quickly. She frowned. "Would it be okay if I took you up for a ride on it first? That way in the air I could show you its little quirks?"

Ginny's eyes widened, how dare he treat her like a kid! "Potter, I can--" But then it hit her. A broom ride..with Harry? "Fine." She crossed her arms, showing her stubbornness, but a fire danced in her eyes and the smallest smile played on her lips.

"Okay, thanks." He said sheepishly, as he held the broom out. She took it and hesitated.

"Well, are you going to mount it?"

"Oh! Yeah." she willed the blood not to rise into her cheeks as she mounted the broom, but the blood won out as Harry mounted behind her and pulled himself tight against her back as his arms inched around her waist. She shuddered slightly. He reached forward, and covering her hands with his own. He made he lightest movement and the Firebolt shot into the air.

With his head practically resting on her shoulder, and his mouth centimeters from her ear, he instructed her of the nuances of the Firebolt, guiding her hands fluidly. But she couldn't hear a word. The incredible feeling of riding the Firebolt paired with the equally incredible feeling of having Harry pressed tightly to her, his hands playing on hers, his breath in her ear, well, anyone could imagine, it made her ears useless.

The heat between their bodies made her sweat. She breathed deeply and leaned back into him, causing her stomach to somersault. She was hopeless against him, feeling Harry so close, she could feel her heart burning in the yearning to stay here forever, winding whipping through her hair, her body wrapped in Harry.

"You got that?" She shook from her trance.

"Uh, Yeah." She lied, and quickly his hands left hers and found a place wrapped around her tiny waist. She forced herself, painfully, to pay attention to flying, but was failing miserably. She'd never once flown so terribly bad in her life. Harry periodically returned his hands to hers, directing her, but it was no use. For that moment, she was a useless flyer.

Harry gasped as they headed dangerously for a tree and reached forward, pulling them out of it. She grimaced.

"Okay Ginny, why don't you just let me fly. You can see how it works." Her shoulders slumped, "It's okay, you did fine for one of your first times flying!"

That was too much. She knocked his hands away from the broom handle and took complete control, willing herself to forget that the boy of her dreams was pressed against her. With her revived confidence she flew effortlessly around the pitch. The Firebolt really was amazing, it did everything she asked it to do. Harry tried to regain his control on the broom but she savagely elbowed his hands away, finding them wrapping again around her waist.

She flew through her favorite tricks and maneuvers, Harry following along the entire time. He had seemed to relax a bit, noting that she did have some skill with a broom, however late in the flight it might have showed up. After a few more good minutes of flying, she tilted her head back.

"There's one thing I can't do. Will you teach it to me?" She yelled against the wind.

"What?"

"A Wronski Feint! I always get too scared, so I can't finish the maneuver!"

Without another word, Harry's hands wrapped around hers, firmly. This was too advanced, there was no way he was going to let her shake him off this time.

"Ready?"

"Ready." She scrunched her face as he shot straight down to the ground. The sudden rush of wind pushed her body yet closer to his, and she let out a small squeal. The ground was rushing towards them at a speed that was bone jarring. She couldn't help it, a scream erupted from her as her entire body went rigid as she was sure that there was no way out of this dive.

Suddenly, Harry pulled up forcefully and she could see sky again. She swore that she could feel the grass brush against her shoes as they flew back up. Her body, racking from heavy breaths, relaxed. Her screams were replaced by laughter, which was joined by Harry.

"That was awesome!" She yelled, punching the sky with one hand.

"I thought you wern't going to make it for a second!"

"Naw, I was just faking. Wasn't scared once." She quipped.

He laughed in her ear, his breath tickling, "I'm sure." he said as he lowered them to the ground.

"We're done?"

"Naw, I just thought you'd like to have a go for yourself." He said as they hit the ground.

"Really?" She said as she got off of the broom, "Are you sure you want to let me on this thing alone? I made a right fool of myself up there!"

"You were pretty terrible to begin with, but I'm sure you were just intimidated by the Firebolt."

Yeah, the Firebolt, that's what made her choke, not the hands and body and breath of an ama--

"Here you go!"

He handed her the Firebolt, this time without hesitation. She took it happily. She smiled at him, his emerald eyes sparkled as he shot a smile back.

"You know, none of my brothers would have ever done this. Thanks." She mounted the broom, alone this time.

"Yeah, I wish you were my little sister." He shrugged. "I'd have--"

UGH! LITTLE. SISTER? Her knee jerked in anger and before she knew it, she'd kicked herself off. How dare he! Little Sister!? She turned the broom around in mid air and hovered. Sudden anger seething from every pore. She looked down and saw the dirty prat wave, smiling up at her.

Harry froze as his Firebolt shot right toward him, the eyes of its passenger burning sinister and maniacal. Harry hit the ground.

"Sorry! Just testing the Wronski Feint!" She screamed, pulling out of the threatening dive.

_Little Sister_, she scoffed. _I should have impaled him with it. _


	12. Trials of Letting Go

"Stupid! Bloody! Prat!" Ginny screamed, throwing a random book against the wall, and subsequently tossing herself on the bed with a big thud. Hermione sat in the corner, picking at her nails, her patience was waining. Ginny had been at it for ten minutes. There was certainly something to be said for blowing off steam, but Hermione thought that this, er, display, had gone a bit too far.

There was silence, apart from heavy breaths from Ginny, she had worked up quite a sweat.

"Are you finished?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Then will you explain to me what happened, because last I knew, you were starting to get over him."

"Well, Hermione, it's all fine and dandy to decide to get over someone. And I was doing quite well with it, thank you. Until that stupid git had to push every single inch of his body against mine." She squirmed visibly, "Breathing in my ear and all that. That, Hermione, is bound to wake up ANY dormant crush. Don't tell me you wouldn't go all limp if Ron pushed every inch of his body against yours?"

Hermione gasped, "Excuse me!?"

"Oh, don't deny it. I see how you look at him and get all defensive when he's around." Ginny let a smile crack through her rock hard demeanor.

"This. Is not about me. We're talking about you, Gin."

"Well, there's nothing to talk about. Because Harry made it quite clear today that he's never going to see me as anything but his surrogate little sis and, well, that leaves me with really no choice than to move on, like I had already been doing. I just...relapsed. That's all. I'm fine now."

"Are you?"

Ginny sighed, Hermione could see a bit of the Ginny Wall fall from her eyes. "Yeah...I am...that just sucked. Hearing him say that."

Hermione smiled and moved to sit on her bed. It was safe now.

"I bet." She paused, maybe this wasn't the right time, but, "You, know, he might not see you like that forever. Just give him time, to you know, grow up? And let yourself have some fun while you're at it."

"What are you talking about?"

"How's Harry going to notice that you're more than just a little sister if he doesn't see any proof?"

Awkward pause, "Again, you lost me."

"Oh, for Merlin's sake Ginny, go flirt with some other boys. It'll do you good. You might even find one that actually sees how fascinating you are."

Ginny paused and looked at the girl sitting next to her, eyes studying.

"Thank you." she stared at Hermione slightly stunned, it was quite possibly the first time another girl had sincerely complimented her. And it was a very nice feeling.

"Okay, I'm exhausted, can we go to bed now?" Hermione didn't wait for Ginny to answer. She crawled right into her bed and blew out her candle. Ginny got up, sighed, and reached for her bed clothes, tugging them on as she walked over to blow out her candle.

"Good night, Gin."

"Good night." She blew out the candle. "Ron lover."

And silently, she was hit with a pillow to the face.

* * *

Much to the surprise of the little firey red head, Hermione was actually right. Boys were actually easy to come by at Hogwarts, and many of them were quite charming, and a few of those charming boys were actually quite cute. And a few of those cute charming boys actually seemed to find Ginny quite cute and charming. 

The first months of her third year were wonderful. She really felt, for the first time, that she had staked her own claim on Hogwarts, she'd finally found her place within those walls.

"Cat, you've got to just go up to him, kick that prat in the knee caps, and tell him its over." Ginny said, stuffing her face with a treacle tart. Catherine was having boy problems, something Ginny didn't have much patience listening to.

"I think I'm just going to dump him. He wasn't really worth my time anyway. Plus he kisses like a chicken." Catherine made a pecking motion as Billy spit out her pumpkin juice in laughter.

"That's terrible! I'd have dumped him just for that!" Billy quipped, wiping up her mess.

"Yeah, I kind of thought about it but--oh no. They're coming this way." Catherine grimaced as she set down her pudding spoon defiantly. Ginny nudged her on.

"You can do it." she sneered.

Terry Boot walked straight up to the table along with two other boys that Ginny had never met.

"Hey, um, Catherine, you want to go to the Yule Ball with me?" he looked nervous, probably why he had his entourage with him, Ginny suspected. More manly support.

"No I do not! I wouldn't be seen anywhere with you. Not after you went hen pecking Sarah Sherman!" Terry blanched. A smirk played across Ginny's face as he backed away slowly, turning on his heel without a word. She caught the eye of one of his friends, who she could tell was biting back a laugh. She winked at him as he turned away to follow Terry.

Catherine huffed, "I can't believe that bloody git asked me to the Yule Ball. I really wanted to go to that thing too!"

"Oh, I wish you were going. I have to go with Neville Longbottom. It's going to be a terrible night."

"Long...bottom?" Billy giggled, "Just the name is terrible."

"Oh, he's nice enough but, well, the first girl he asked turned him down. I felt bad for him, I guess. He just asked me at lunch." She shrugged. "Too bad you're not going Cat."

"Meh, I'll live. Just let me do your hair for the ball."

"Deal." Ginny and Cat shook hands.

"Time to go work on my charms." Charms always cheered Cat up. The Ravenclaw girls stood up from dinner, waved good bye to Ginny, and headed out of the Great Hall.

Ginny took one last bite of her treacle tart before she got up and began to make her way back to Gryffindor Tower for the evening. As she rounded the corner a body ran headlong into her, knocking the wind out of her lungs.

"Ron? Ron, what's wrong?' He was frantic.

"Flu--Flu..." He couldn't speak. His eyes were the size of saucers.

"Ron, do you need to go to the hospital wing?"

"N N No. I just." He put his head between his legs, trying to catch his breath. Then, quickly, he shot up, grabbing Ginny by the shoulders. "Help me!" He squeaked out. He was scaring her. She took his hand.

"Okay, Should I take you back to the common room, or should I get help?"

"Common. Common." Eyes still bugging.

She led him to the Fat Lady, "Fairy Lights." The Fat Lady winked and the portrait swung open. Ginny plopped Ron down in his favorite chair. He was twitching.

"Okay, what's up?"

"I asked the Flu-- the Flu--"

"Uh huh?"

"Veela!"

"Oh my god. You didn't." She wasn't sure how she'd deciphered the code. But she was quite sure she had.

"I did."

"Oh Ron." She hugged him, holding back racks of laughter.

"It, it was terrible! I don't know what made me do it. That horrible girl! She's a magnet. I just walked right up and asked her. And she was talking to Cedric Diggory, and, Oh Merlin!" He buried his head in his hands as the portrait swung open. Harry trotted in, looking almost as bad as Ron.

After explaining Ron's horrifying experience to Harry, Harry tried to comfort him. Ginny's entertained bubble broke at once.

"Cho Chang?" She asked, quietly, but Ron and Harry ignored her as they blabbered on about what they were going to do for dates now that they were both turned down, Harry by Cho Chang. She shook it off immediately. She, in fact, aleardy had a date to the Yule Ball, even if it was Neville. Why did it matter who Harry went with.

"Ginny." Ron cut into her thoughts.

"Huh?"

"Ginny, you go to the ball with Harry and--"

"I can't"

"What?"

She stared at Harry, trying to gauge his response to Ron's idea, but there was nothing in his eyes. She wasn't even sure if he recognized that she was in the room. Once deciphering that Harry would get no satisfaction taking her to the ball, she made up her mind.

She swallowed hard and declared to the boys that she was indeed going to be attending the Yule Ball with one Neville Longbottom and she couldn't be bothered with the prospect of Harry. Then she quickly excused herself to dinner, though she had just had dinner, and got the hell out of there, shaking in dissapointment and frustration.

She ran to a deserted corridor and slid down the wall. She wasn't going to cry, or pout, or throw things, she just felt empty.

What hurt her wasn't that she wasn't going to be able to go the ball with Harry. What really hurt was that she would have been a pity date. She'd tried all year, and succeeded for the most part, in letting her crush for Harry go. But those deep seated feelings hadn't quite vanished fully. She couldn't dismiss the fact that her stomach still flipped lightly when he laughed at a joke of hers or shot her his piercing smile. But, she knew all too well, and needed to accept that, it just wasn't the same for him.

She exhaled. This wasn't Harry's fault, it was her own, and she set herself up for this pain. She decided silently, at that moment, body against a cold stone wall, that she was more important than some stupid raven haired bespeckled Boy-Who-Lived. She was Ginny. And she was utterly amazing. And someone was going see her utter amazingness, damnit. Harry or not.

* * *

**It's hard to write the scenes that actually happen in the book because I don't want to use J.K.'s**** dialogue, so I hope that the final part of this chapter was still effective. It's just a building chapter, anyway, more up tonight! Thanks to all of my lovely readers, keep reading!**


	13. Surprise at the Ball

"Down or up?"

"Oh, definitely down."

"Okay, well, half up then?"

"I don't know if you heard me, Hermione? I believe I distinctly said down."

"Okay, but I just thought--"

"Down." Ginny barked. "And make it curly."

Hermione sighed, raising her wanded. Casting a heating spell, she began to curl Ginny's hair strand for strand.

"Gin, I must say, I never really pictured us ever doing someone so sterotypically girly as doing eachothers hair."

"Definitely true. It's kind of nice though, huh?" She turned to smile at her good friend. "OUCH!"

Ginny roughly shooed Hermione's wand away, grasping her neck.

"What!"

"You burned me! Ow!" She spit on her hand, then lightly rubbed the fresh burn.

"Okay, Okay, we can fix that, we just need to get it wet." Hermione looked around panicked, there was no water in sight. "Oh! Aguamenti!" She screamed, pointing her wand at Ginny's burn. She gasped. "Oh! Oh no!" A huge burst of water shot out of the end of Hermione's wand, thoroughly drenching Ginny. A shocked look played on each of their faces before they each burst out into fits of laughter. The girls knew to set aside a good amount of extra time to do their hair and make up as they were both quite novices on the topic.

"Well, we can fix that too, I guess." Hermione giggled as she shot hot air out of her wand, drying Gin's hair before starting back at the beginning with the headful of curls.

"Ugh, and we never even got rid of that burn." She grimaced, rubbing at the raw red spot on her neck. "Now everyone's going to think Neville gave me a hickey."

"Okay, that's just weird to even think about...and a little gross." Hermione curled the final hair on Ginny's head and turned her to the mirror. Ginny's gleaming red hair was full and luscious, a far cry from the tight pony tail it had been in for the last six months. She smiled lightly.

"Thanks Mione, it really looks great."

"I still think it would look better if you just let me--"

"Okay! You're turn!" Ginny cut her off as she jumped up and pushed Hermione into the chair. Reaching into the pocket of her jumper she pulled out a small circular container. Hermione's eyes widened a bit in anxiety.

"What is that?"

"Oh, just something I picked up and thought you'd like to try."

"What is it."

Ginny cleared her throat, and with a dead on imitation of the commercial she had heard so many times on the wireless, "Sleekeasy's Hair Potion! Voted best hair soothing potion by Witch's Weekly three years running!" and without hesitation, Ginny unscrewed the cap and lathered it between the palms of her hand, plunging into the bushy jungle that was Hermione's hair. Hermione bit back her apprehension and let Ginny do the work. After about fifteen minutes of an inadvertant yet lovely scalp massage, Ginny flung Hermione's chair around and centered her in the mirror. Hermione's jaw dropped.

"Give me that! This stuff is amazing!" She eyed herself lovingly in the mirror, not quite believing that it was her.

"If how you look tonight doesn't make Krum fall off his broom, I don't know what would."

And with that Hermione's face flushed the brighest red, a sheepish grin played across her face,"I'm so excited." She whispered.

"You should be. You and me will be the talk of the ball tonight, what with you on Krum's arm and me sporting one killer hickey."

* * *

"Hi Neville!" She bellowed as she traipsed down the steps of the girls dormitory in a stunning set of fitted emerald green dress robes, which she had borrowed from Billy. Neville's face was one of utter shock that not only was he lucky enough to find a date, but he was lucky enough to find a date that didn't have three eyes or a peg leg. 

"Um..you're supposed to offer me your arm." She whispered to him.

"Oh, oh right! Sorry, I'm new at this." he blushed as she slipped her arm through his. "What's that on your neck. Is...is that a hic--?"

She was utterly surprised that Neville would have a clue what a hickey looked like, she laughed. "Wand burn. From the hair curling."

The common room was buzzing rather loudly that evening. Most of the younger kids had camped out to see the show of dress robes and dates, and the older student were floating around, waiting for dates, giggling with their friends, and gossiping about eachother in huddled masses. Many people turned to look at Ginny as she entered the common room. It was a well known fact that she was the only third year who had been invited to the Yule Ball, which accounted for the many dirty looks from the corner of third year girls. Obviously, a Yule Ball with Neville Longbottom was better than no Yule Ball at all.

Standing to the side, looking anxious, was Parvati, she was tapping her foot. Ginny snickered but only in time to see Harry and Ron enter from the boys dormitory. She gasped lightly to herself.

"You okay?" Neville looked unreasonably worried by her intake of air.

"Oh, oh, no, i'm fine." She giggled, but she couldn't help but keep the corner of her eye on Harry. He looked wonderful in his classy dress robes, his hair was slightly more tamed and his green eyes were twinkling, he waved at her meekly. She wipped her head around.

"Well, Neville. Are you ready?"

"Oh, oh definitely, um...let's go?" He stammered, seeming to somewhat trip over his own feet as he turned to lead her out of the portrait hole. She patted his arm lightly in encouragement. It was going to be a long night.

The Great Hall had been decorated to it's maximum potential, and Ginny found herself impressed, a feat that was quite rare. And she was having quite a wonderful time, that was until Neville had a terrible reaction to the main course at dinner and excused himself from the festivities, leaving Ginny alone at a table with absolutely no one she knew...except Terry Boot, there with his lovely new girlfriend, Sarah Sherman. It had not been Ginny's choice to join this table. Neville had wandered around, trying in vain to find someone, anyone who he wasn't embarressed to sit with, leaving them with the only two seats left at dinner. At the six top table was Terry and the girl and Terry's two friends, the same two friends who had flanked by his side as Cat ripped him a new one at dinner the prior week. Ginny sighed as she looked around the table of fourth year Ravenclaws, feeling terribly like she wanted to go back to the common room and play exploding snap or do homework or something more enjoyable.

"Er, what happened to your date?" whispered the boy sitting next to her, he had obviously come stag.

"He's Neville Longbottom, that's what happened to him." The boy snickered.

"Have I seen you before? You look familiar."

"Yeah, that prat of a friend of yours, Terry, just cheated on my best friend Cat. I was there when she told him off."

"Ah! You're the girl that winked at me!"

Ginny flushed a bit. "Um.." she let out a little giggle. "That would be me."

"Treacle tart?"

"Oh, yes, thank you." she welcomed the change in topic.

"I'm Michael by the way."

"Ginny, nice to meet you." His eyes went wide by the sheer force behind the handshake she forced him into.

"What house are you in?" He asked, shaking the bones out in his fingers.

"Gryffindor. But I appreciate the wit of the Ravenclaws so I befriend them easily."

"Well, I'll consider myself befriended then." He smiled. "Hey, what's that on your neck?" He reached up, trying to flake it off of her neck, retreating embarressedly when he realized that it was _part _of her neck.

"Oh," she blushed, trying to lay her hair around it, "Just a wand burn from curling my hair."

"Ouch."

"Yep."

At that, the food disappeared from the plates and a loud voice called out into the crowd.

"We shall now begin the festivities. With a dance led by our Triwizard Champions." Everyone looked forward to see the four champions lead their dates to the floor. She spotted Harry, a good head shorter than the three other champions, including Fleur. He didn't look too thrilled, and he was definitely not a dancer. Ginny brought her hand up to her mouth to stifle a laugh as she watched Partavi grimace and shake out a stepped on foot.

"Harry Potter is a terrible dancer." she said to herself, only a little too loudly as Michael looked at her and chortled.

"Well, you can't be good at everything, you know?"

"The rest of the guests may now make their way to the floor." Came the voice.

There was a shifting at the table as Terry and Sarah got up to dance.

"Listen, I know you have a date and all, but considering he, well, isn't here to do his date duties..umm...would you like to dance with me?" He implored her with his big, icy blue eyes.

"I'd love to, Michael." and with that he took her hand.

Michael was a lovely dancer, it was obvious that he actually knew the steps and had had practice, which was good as Ginny had no idea what she was doing, but was able to follow. The evening flew by with Michael. He was very interested that she was the only third year at the ball, asked question after question about her and her family, and constantly complimented her on her lovely red hair. His eyes rarely lost contact with hers and he seemed genuinely interested in...in her. And that felt utterly amazing. For the first time in her life she felt...special.

"Whew! I'm beat, do you mind if I run and get a glass of punch quickly?" She wiped her brow, who ever knew dancing took that much out of someone?

"Oh, I'll go."

"No, I'd rather go myself, thank you though. Would you like a glass?"

"Umm..okay, yes, thanks."

And with that, Ginny made her way to the punch in the corner of the great hall. It was surrounded by wall flowers, snogging couples, and loud boys. As she ladled punch into the first cup, she felt hot breath on her neck. Spinning around, she saw Harry, their faces dangerously close. He quickly backed up, smiling a bit.

"Having a good night, Gin?"

"Yeah, yeah I really am. You?"

"Eh, it's okay." She could tell from the dullness of his eyes that he was not, in fact, having a good time. She knew for a fact that when Harry was happy his eyes sparkled like the sky. "Is that for Neville?"

"Er, no, Neville had to leave. This is for my, er, friend. Michael."

"Michael?"

"He's in Ravenclaw."

"Ah. Well, have fun then."

"Thanks Harry, you--"

But she wasn't able to finish her sentence as Harry shot her a questioning glance. Then, ever so lightly, he brushed her hair away from her face, his emerald eyes wide, yet sparkling again. Ginny's heart skipped. _What is he doing!?_ He stepped in, his hand still on her shoulder, moving his face closer. He was so close, she could feel his breath on her neck, smell his amazing scent. She shuddered weakly.

"Is that? Ginny! Is that a hickey?" His eyes were falling out of his head.

She smiled. "Yep. It sure is." She said as she bounced away.


	14. Nightmare of the Third Challenge

With the arrival of her new boyfriend, Michael, the months swam by easily for Ginny. Michael was just...she couldn't quite explain him. He was nice. He paid attention. His blue eyes smiled at her constantly. It boiled down to the fact that, unlike any other time in her life, this one person made her feel important. When she was with him she could tell that he wanted, truly wanted, to be with her, which was a nice change, as she was the runt of a litter of seven red headed children. The only difficult thing for her was whether or not to cheer for the Ravenclaw Quidditch team as she had (between Michael, Billy, and Cat) fully immersed herself into the Ravenclaw world. Good thing the Quidditch season had been called off in order to allow time for the Triwizard Tournament.

Third year was wearing to an end, much to her pleasure. As far as academics went, it had defintely been the hardest year yet, as she would have expected. But what threw her really off guard was the fact that her professors were already bringing up the topic of O.W.L.S., which were a good two years off.

"O.W.L.S. practice this, O.W.L.S. practice that. Remember this, it will very possibly show up on your _O.W.L.S.. _When you go to the loo, take your books with you so you don't waste any time not studying for your _**O.W.L.S.!**_"

"Whoa!" Michael laughed, putting up his hand to halt Ginny's rant.

"Well! It's...it's just annoying." she kicked at the grass to let out the rest of her tension. It was a beautiful afternoon, bright and warm. A light breeze played through her hair. She had just completed her last exam and the two had decided to take a quick trip outside before the evenings main event. The final task of the Triwizard Tournament was that evening, an event that was making the tensions of the entire school hit a fever pitch. Harry, the reluctant fourth Triward, was currently leading the pack with 85 points, tied with Cedric Diggory. Ginny was one of the few Harry supporters, she had even had to talk Michael out of wearing a 'Potter Stinks' button to the second event.

Her mother and brother had surprised everyone that morning by arriving unnannounced, to show their support for Harry. This was what made Ginny more tense than anything. Her mother was on the grounds, a tid bit of information that she truly didn't want to divulge to Michael. As much as she liked him, she was nowhere near ready to introduce him to the family. But quite the opposite, Michael spoke volumes about how he couldn't wait to 'become an honorary Weasley' or 'see where Ginny got her beautiful eyes'. She'd practically had to bribe him not to introduce himself to her brothers as her boyfriend. Explaining that she simply just didn't want him killed.

"Ooh, look, our tree's empty!" He smiled and gingerly led her over an old and shady tree by the lake, one that was regularly occupied by one snogging couple or another. He settled his back against the tree as she sat down beside him, his hand never daring to leave hers. He snuggled up against her.

"Ginny, this is just grand, no?"

"What is?" She turned to him. He smiled up at her, almost dizzily.

"Just...just us." He mused. "I just think you're lovely."

"Thanks Michael, I think you're quite lovely too." He flushed slightly, nervous to continue. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing." His ice blue eyes turned sheepish, he swept his sandy brown hair off of his forehead nervously and turned to the tree trunk he had been leaning on. He unlaced his fingers from hers and lightly traced a carving of a heart with two initials. "It's just wonderful isn't it? These people wanted to be together so much that they had to declare it forever."

She gulped. Michael was not talented in the realm of subtlety, it was suddenly obvious to Ginny why he had brought her to this exact spot so close to the end of the year, and she wasn't having it one bit. She scanned the tree, reading the many carvings graffitied on its trunk. _'RM YL'_, _'HT loves WG'_ _'JP LE forever'_, and one that made her laugh audibly **"SB loves IM, MS, EV, BB, AT, PY, Himself"** The 'Himself' obviously having been added by a different hand.

"This SB guy definitely liked the ladies!" She laughed, trying to change the subject.

"Not me Ginny, you're the only girl for me." She winced slightly. She could tell by the glint in Michael's eye that he meant every word. And for some reason, a reason for which she could not place, it made her feel queasy. And not the butterflies in your stomach sick, the vomiting sick.

"So, shall we?" He asked, exictedly pulling out his wand, casting a charm so the tip burned like a coal ember. He inched the wand to the tree, smiling from ear to ear.

"No!"

Startled, he quickly pulled back his wand, staring dumbly at Ginny. She thought fast.

"I, uh, well, I don't want to hurt the tree."

"Ginny, we're not hurting the tree." He laughed, stroking her hair like a child,"Look at how many people have done it before us!"

"Well," she scoffed, trying to make her arguement fool proof. "Just because others have done it before us doesn't mean we should. This tree's a living thing too, you know."

"I know that, but--"

"No 'buts' Michael, it's disrespectful to the tree."

"I never knew you cared so much about, er, plant life."

"Well, I do, it's-- Oh, look at the time, it's time for dinner, I do have to run and catch up with my brother. I'll see you at the task?" She pecked him quickly on the cheek, and without allowing him any time to respond, she stood up and began to run, at full speed, to the castle.

She shook her mind, trying in vain to figure out why she had needed to get away from him so badly. But she didn't get much chance to think about it as she ran headlong into Bill, her mum, and Harry, who were taking a stroll around the grounds. Harry, luckily, had been excused from exams due to his Triwizard status, and had these days off.

"Hullo darling! Where are you coming from in such a hurry?" Her mother asked, smoothing down Ginny's flyaway hairs wuth her hand.

"Oh! Oh, nowhere." Ginny panted for breath. "I was just down at the lake with my, er, friends, and I saw you guys up here so I wanted to run up and say hi. So, Umm, Hi."

Harry smiled at her, "Hi." looking quite at ease. It was a far cry from how he had been the day of the first, and even the second task. He looked in control, if not even a bit confident. Ginny smiled.

"Nervous?" She asked, falling into stride with the three of them.

"Well, of course, who wouldn't be."

"Oh. I know I wouldn't be. No, not one bit. In fact, I think you're be a bit of a nancy boy, actually, for feeling any nervousness at all." She giggled as he nudged her, making her trip slightly.

Ginny found it so much easier to spend time with Harry, joke with Harry, and generally just be with Harry, now that she had a boyfriend. Among the many wonderful things Michael had done for her, he had gotten her over Harry, a feat that at many times in her past, she had deemed impossible.

Sure his striking eyes, quirky smile, messy hair, how cute he looked when he would push his glasses up the bridge of his nose, his eyes almost crossing as he stared at his finger. Those few things were still a major weak spot for the petite red head. But she could live with the occasional pang from within in comparsion to the Harry shaped quaffle that had lived in her stomach for her first two years at Hogwarts.

As they neared the castle doors, he walked up, holding it open for her. "Hey Harry, if you win the cup, will you let me hold it?"

"Definitely."

The stands were packed as she sat with her family, Hermione pushed up close against one side, Bill on the other. Fred and George had donned round glasses, and dyed their hair black for the occasion.

The champions had been in the maze an extrodinarily long time. The stands were getting restless. Ginny could even see that Hagrid was looking slightly unnerved.

"You know, I wonder what kinds of things are actually in the maze. I didn't think it was going to take this long. We trained for everything we could think of. Oh, I hope he didn't run into something he didn't know how to deal with!" Hermione said through her teeth, chewing on a nail and staring straight out to the maze.

"Yeah, you wouldn't remember that the last one took over an hour, would you Krum's most treasured person." this topic still succeeded in making Hermione blush.

"Yeah, I guess you're--LOOK!" the girls stood up promptly as not one, but two bodies appeared from nowhere, sprawled across the ground, holding the Triwizard Cup. She cheered with the rest of the crowd, realizing that it was Cedric _and_ Harry. The erupting crowd made it difficult to see what was going on, everyone was jumping up and down, hugging, screaming, paying out their bets, and the like. But slowly the cheers turned dark and quieted as it became clear that the boys on the ground wern't moving, well, one of them wasn't. But just as Ginny noticed, the boys became covered in bodies moving in to investigate. Without a second thought, she, along with Ron and Hermione shot out of the stands and onto the pitch, trying to get as close as they could, but all she could glimpse was- and she gasped. Harry was clutching Cedric to him for dear life.

"Dead!" "_He's Dead" _"**CEDRIC!"**

----------------------

"Yes, but how is Harry?" She urged them. The Great Hall was humming in a way that she had never heard, the voices were dark, confused. Ginny had taken Harry's place at the Gryffindor table for breakfast beside Ron and Hermione.

"He's..." Hermione bit her lip.

"He's fine." Ron cut in. "He's just. Well..."

Hermione shot up from her seat, not even having touched a corner of her toast. "I'm going up to him. Do you guys want to come along?" Ron nodded and stood up, Ginny naturally began to follow, but she quickly caught glimpse a brown haired boy bobbing over to her, knowing that she was stuck.

"I'll uh...I'll meet you up there" she called as they exited.

Michael proceeded to milk Ginny for information about what had happened. Every time she answered a question, he shot right back with another one. His eyes wide with curiousity and fascination. To Ginny, the day before had been a terrible tragedy. To Michael, it seemed to have been gossip.

"Yes, but, has he said what he looked like?"

"Michael." Ginny sighed, she had had enough. "I don't know. Look, I've got to go and find my friends, I'll see you later." This time she left him with no goodbye peck on the cheek, not even a smile. She regretted her curtness to him later in the day, but at that moment she just had to get away from the barrage of questions.

As she quickly made her way to the hospital wing, she dug her mind to try to figure out why all of Michael's questions about Voldemort, the portkey, the death, were gnawing at her. And then she realized. The series of questions were strikingly similar to the rush of questions that had haunted her two years prior after her ordeal with the chamber. She shuddered. She never wanted to relive that, and Michael's incessant drilling for answers had opened up the scar.

Entering the hospital wing, she knew to be as quiet as possible. Madam Pomphrey wasn't keen on visitors anyway, and she could only imagine how strict she was about people visiting Harry after what he had just been through.

She tip toed into the room filled with beds, noticing the screened in one right away. Peering around the screen she saw Harry, his eyes half open. And then she smiled at an adorable sight. Her mum, splayed across one of the visitor chairs, mouth agape, her red hair flailing across her face. It was obvious that she had spent the night at Harry's bedside.

Harry caught Ginny's eye. She stepped in meekly. Ginny couldn't help but notice as she sidled closer that his eyes looked dead. Blank. Like he didn't have the strength to light them up. He stared at her.

She couldn't help but writhe in the awkward silence. "Um...have Ron and Hermione been here?" She definitely hadn't expected to be standing there alone. She shuffled her feet nervously and twirled a thin strand of hair in her finger as he answered her.

"They got kicked out." He whispered. "Ron started yelling about something or other. Your mum didn't even stir though." A faint smile played across his lips. "Thanks for stopping by, Gin."

"Of course. How are you?" She asked, easing her body into the chair next to his bed, pulling it close to him as so that they could speak as quietly as possible. He remained silent, obviously pondering the question, his eyes staring down at the sheet covering him.

"Honestly?" and with that he looked up. His emerald eyes were back alive, but he was staring at her with an expression she had never once seen on his face. Pain, terrible pain, bled out of his beautiful eyes. She was so close that she could make out every little fleck of his irises, each one searing with pain. His deep painful eyes bored into hers, pleading with her, searching hers for something, asking a question that didn't have words.

Her heart sank. Harry, that invincibile boy who had saved her life, who had saved the entire wizarding world, that hero was in agony.

She didn't know what possessed her at that moment, nor did she care.

She reached forward, taking his hands, which had just endured so much horror, within her small ones and grasping them tight. His eyes jumped quickly, alarmed by the touch, but she didn't look away. She held them tighter, willing him to know that he was not alone. He did not pull away. Instead, he grasped on harder. Clinging. He needed her. But all that mattered to Ginny at that moment was taking his pain. Silently, noiselessly, she let him tell his story. She let him drain his pain into her.

And like this, they stayed, motionless. Neither of them trying to talk. That wasn't what he needed. She knew, he just needed...well...he needed love.

How long she sat there like that, pumping herself into him through his hands, she didn't know. But with one last meaningful look, they slowly let go and she stood up.

She turned to leave, but Harry tugged on her hand, causing her to turn around and gaze at him again.

"Yeah?"

"Just...thank you."

She smiled. Leaning down she stroked away a chunk of his black hair and kissed him lightly on the forehead. "That's what friends are for, Harry."


	15. A Gloomy Reunion

She looked sadly around the half empty room, having no idea when she'd see it again. The Holyhead Harpies still buzzed around her walls with all of their winning grace, oblivous to the fact that Voldemort had returned to his flesh, that they were no longer safe. Ginny sighed, pushing back a loose strand of hair, she locked her trunk, propped her immensly heavy back pack up on her shoulder, and made her way for the door.

The tone of the upcoming summer had changed drastically with Harry's encounter with Voldemort. It changed everything. Ginny had to lie to Michael, telling him that they were going to visit Charlie for the summer in Romania. Michael had made extensive plans to spend parts of the summer with Ginny at the burrow, something Ginny had not yet voiced to her family. She tried in vain to get him to stop planning, but he was just so excited that he couldn't be thrown off track. The look on his face when she told him that she wouldn't be around for the summer was heartbreaking. She did, however, tell him that she'd write him regularly, a feat that was going to be difficult with the fact that she was staying in an unplottable house. Regular owl post was going to be highly discouraged. Oh well, maybe she could lie to him and say she'd recieved a terrible dragon burn on her writing hand, causing her great anguish in writing letters.

As she heaved the trunk over the threshold, she jumped. The contact of another body had jarred her.

"Mum says you need to get your things downstairs now so she can inspect them."

"INSPECT them? What does that mean?"

"She just wants to make sure how much they weigh. She doesn't want us taking too much" Ron shrugged and nudged past her to climb the next set of richety stairs.

"Gin! Gin!" She spun around to the see the heads of her twin brothers popping out at her. "Do you have any extra room in your trunk? We, uh, need a little extra space for the merchandise."

She gave them a wry smile. She had always loved that the twins trusted her, she was the only one that they showed their new inventions too, and they never tried to test them out on her. Probably because they knew she would have hexed them into oblivion after her nose had stopped bleeding.

"I've got _a little _extra space." The boys grinned and high fived, "But." she put her hand up to silence them, they stared at her wide eyed. "What's in it for your amazing little sister?" They frowned.

"Fred, I knew we taught her too well."

"Sixty Galleons!" Fred whispered hurriedly, he was panicking. George smacked him right across the face. Ginny's mouth shot open. That was much more than she had expected, she hadn't really expected anything.

"Where would you get sixty galleons?"

The boys turned white, George smacked Fred again. Fred looked caught.

"Fine. Eighty Galleons, but no more questions."

"...deal." Ginny said, eyeing her brothers as Fred pulled out a massive bag. George looked like he was having a seizure from the anger building up inside him, but Fred was panicking. Fred shooed Ginny back into her room, followed her in, and shut the door with a lock. Ginny had no clue why her transporting was so important, or where the immense amount of money had come from, but she decided to stop asking, and just accept the--

"Seventy nine, Eighty." Fred winced as he stepped away into a smack upside the head from George.

"From now on brother, only I handle the money." George said as he wrenched the bag from Fred.

Lying at Ginny's feet was more money than she had ever had or thought of having...and it was enough...quite enough, for a decent racing broom. A smile shot across her face. She gingerly opened her trunk and began heaving her unneeded things out, extra t-shirts, bras that were becoming too small, holy socks, books from previous school years. Her trunk ended up half empty as the boys, even George, smiled, and heaved it up to their room. She followed them anxiously, curious as to what her transport was.

The twins opened their door to an immaculately clean room. There was nothing there, nothing out of the ordinary, that was until the boys began dancing around the room, tapping on certain parts of the walls, the floor boards, the dressers. Drawers upon drawers appeared, each bursting with contents. Falling into her trunk were sweets unlike she had ever seen, joke wands, joke hats, joke cauldrons, joke everything. Enchanted books, enchanted playing cards by the gross. The boys had a secret wearhouse right in their very room. She was stunned. She had expected a lot from Fred and George, but this was _amazing!_

Her wide eyes gave her away as she looked around the room, George smiled.

"Gin, can you stuff these inside one of your books, we don't want to get them wrinkled." Fred absentmindedly handed her a large stack of order forms, which tens upon tens of items. She slipped them into her backpack.

"How did you--"

"Shh--" He put his finger to her mouth. "No questions. You agreed." Said George as he fastened her trunk, heaving it out around her and dropping it in the hallway. "Now, you take it down, Mum will suspect something if we act like gentlemen and take it down for you. Thanks again." he winked as he walked back into the room, shutting the door.

Maybe a summer at Grimmauld place wouldn't be so terrible after all.

---------------------------

The mood in Number 12 Grimmauld Place was a nervous one as Ginny lay on her bed, staring up at the cieling. Hermione knocked quietly, easing the door open.

"Is he here yet?" Ginny sat up.

"Nope. They should be here any minute now." Hermione rang her hands anxiously as she came to sit down on the edge of Ginny's bed.

"I just hope they're all alright. They've been gone forever."Ginny sighed, picking up a bag, "do you think the meeting's started yet?"

"It's just about to, why?"

"I'm on, er, duty by Fred and George, to see what's going on." She stood up and crossed to the door. Hermione knew it was useless to try to stop a Weasley when they were being nosy, or secretive, or pulling a prank, really it was useless to try to stop a Weasley at all. She sighed.

"Just don't get caught." And with that Ginny left the room, silently creeping down the stairs to the door that held the meeting of the Order of the Phoenix. Just as she got there, sidling against the wall, the door burst open. She just had enough time to lunge herself behind a tapestry as her mother appeared, trotting to the main entrance.

It paid to be small, she thought, as she hugged the wall with her back behind the tapestry. She wasn't as small as she had remembered though, the only part of her that was brushing against the tapestry was her newly protuding chest, an addition to her body that Ginny had tried to flatten in every way possible. She wasn't quite ready to give up the tomboy look.

Ginny gave a sigh of relief as she counted the people entering the main door to greet her mother, everyone was back safe. And Harry had made it. She peeked out to catch a glimpse of him. His hair was windblown, his glasses crooked, and he looked bewildered and rather upset. Though it had only been a short while since she had seen him, he seemed to look older. The baby fat (what very little there had been of it) was no longer gracing his cheeks, leaving a chiseled jaw line to match his sharp eyes. And in those sharp eyes she saw the slightest amount of age. His body had become a bit bulkier in his fourth year, he was definitely no longer skin and bones. All of the work in the Triwizard Tournament had paid off very well, she thought, biting back a smirk.

The adults made their way past her into the room as she watched Mrs. Weasley shoo Harry upstairs. She held her breath as Mrs. Weasley stopped in front of the tapestry, muttered something with the wave of her wand, and entered the door, locking it behind her.

Ginny let out her breath as she scooted to the other end of the tapestry, right next to the door. The extendable ears were good, but nothing compared to the accidential hiding space that she had found. She listened hard, but could hear absolutely nothing. She sighed, her mother's mutterings popping into her head. She reached into her small bag, pulled out a dung bomb, and tossed it at the door.

Her eyes narrowed as it bounced off of the air a foot before the door. She had been outsmarted. By her mother. She tossed dung bomb after dung bomb at every spot of the door, hoping there was a weak spot. But the charm was fool proof. About to give up, she heard yells, extremely loud yells, and she pushed her ear up the door, well, up to the charm that was covering the door. But she realized quickly that the yells were not coming from the meeting, but rather from upstairs. She popped quickly out of the tapestry, scooped up what dung bombs there were on the floor, and hurried up the stairs.

No one needed an extendable ear to hear the yells. Harry was livid. She listened as he broke down. She felt terrible for him as he yelled on and on about why he should have information, instead of being the one in the dark, something she had agreed with from the beginning. He did deserve to know. He did deserve to be involved, his life was more at stake than almost anyone's. She didn't know why, but she knew it didn't take a genius to figure out that Voldemort had a personal need to vanquish Harry.

She popped out of her own thoughts as she realized the yelling had stopped and more voices had joined them. She hesitantly knocked on the door, edging it open. Fred, George, Ron, Hermione, and Harry looked up at her, and she smiled at him and let out a little wave, watching as his tense eyes relaxed just slightly as he returned the smile.

-----------------------------

The next few days at Grimmauld Place wern't exactly fun ones. Her house cleaning maniac of a mother had stepped up the project once Harry arrived. Mainly because Harry's need for information had turned ruthless, causing all of the Weasley children to know what was going on. Well, all except herself, her Mum had managed to kick her and only her out of the room, a sore spot that had made conversations with her mother in the past few days limited to "What room do you want done next?" and "Pass the potatoes." On top of that, Harry was being a down right prat. She didn't blame him, but he was close to intolerable, it was best just to stay out of his way. Add that to Ron and Hermione's constant bickering just to add a cherry to the sundae, and it was a house full of love to be sure.

This particular afternoon, Ginny had been sent to clean out a walk in closet by herself. Which was nice, as she was allowed a little privacy. The closet was fuming hot, maybe because she had shut the door and set a contained fire in the corner for light. She never really was one to heed the underage laws when she was alone, as long as a wizard was present in the house. She tied up the oversized t-shirt she had borrowed from Fred into a knot so it sat on her waist, allowing her midriff to breath. She had accidentally thrown a few too many shirts out of her trunk on her last night at the burrow, causing her to be mooching off of her brothers and Hermione.

She had just finished throwing away everything at the foot of the closet when the door inched open. Harry peeked his head in sheepishly.

"Hi." She said, looking up from the ground.

"Hi. Uh, can I help you? Ron and Hermione won't stop fighting and it's driving me crazy. Mrs. Weasley said you might need help. Damn, it's hot in here!"

She hesitated for a second. For the first time in her life, she wasn't certain that company from Harry would be a postive thing at all. But then again, she definitely sympathized with his plight to get away from the ever infuriating trysts of Ron and Hermione.

"Sure." She looked up, "I can't reach the top shelf anyway."

He laughed, "Gin, no offense, but I don't think you'll ever be tall enough to reach that shelf." He said, reaching the top shelf with only a slight bit of difficulty and bringing down a box to sort through.

"Shut up." She said quickly, and went back to her work, sweeping out the corners on her hands and her knees.

They worked in silence for quite awhile, Harry sorting through boxes and Ginny cleaning the floor. After many minutes she felt an odd sensation, the sensation of being looked at. She turned her head and gave him a smile once she noticed his staring.

"What?'

"Gin, tell me I'm not going to get expelled." He blurted out in a small voice, which threw her. He had stopped rummaging through a box, in fact, it looked as though he had been sitting, doing nothing for quite some time. She straightened up and sat on her knees.

"Is that what's been eating at you these last few days?"

"No, well, somewhat. I mean, there's a LOT that's been eating at me for awhile. I guess I just don't know how to contain it anymore."

"Well, you're not going to get expelled, and you're going to have an awesome fifth year and You-Know-Who can shove his face up his dirty arse."

Harry cracked a smile and let out a good laugh, one of the first she'd seen from him since he'd arrived. He ran his hand through his unruly hair and wiped the sweat off of his brow, it really was damn hot in there.

"Thanks Gin, I needed that mental picture."

"My pleasure. Now why don't you get off your own dirty arse and do some work!" she said as she nudged him to the box, he playfully pushed her back.

"Whoa. Hey." she quickly raised her wand. Intending nothing, but trying to prove a point.

"What, you think just because you're a girl Weasley that I'm going to take that?"

"Prat." and with that he pushed her again, harder, knocking her right off of her knees. She stared at him, fire burning up into her eyes. _ Oh, it's on_.

Cat like she lunged at him, but with his seeker fast reflexes he shot out of the way and Ginny went barreling past him, right at the conjured fire, she couldn't stop. She let out a quick scream and shut her eyes tight, scrambling her arms to find something to grab onto, but was caught just in time by two arms wrapping around her bare midriff. He quickly pulled her back and she bumped up against his body.

"Oh Merlin! I am so sorry! Didn't realize! Fire." He cried, as she thrashed against him in screams of 'Stupid prat!' and 'I'm going to kill you!'

She let herself relax a bit once the shock of the fire flying at her face started to subside.

"Excuse me miss, but I believe you were trying to attack me. AND I saved you from burning your face off, so, if you killed me, that would be a bit unfair."

"Oh, shut up you prat."

"Is that your new favorite word or something?" He smirked and his eyes lit up as she looked up at him, frustration bleeding out of her eyes, they stared at eachother for a few seconds, almost challenging eachother, until she started to realize the tension around her waist, he was still holding her tightly, though there was no need for it at all. His fingers were hot on her skin, she shivered.

His eyes widened slightly and immediately his face flushed pink as he released her quickly from his grip. "Er, sorry," he said, ruffling his hair yet again, turning directly to the box of Black family heirlooms he had been sorting.

"No, no, it's okay," Ginny said, staggering onto her knees again, biting her lip in the awkward silence as she returned to her corner.


	16. A Newly Accepted Friendship

She smiled at the particular memory, rolling her eyes at the numerous awkward experiences the two of them had inflicted upon eachother. The room was dark now, Harry had slept through the entire day. She snuggled deeper into his arms, as if the sleeping boy had an idea she was there, his arms slightly tightened around her waist. She breathed in deeply as a wash of comfort rushed over her. After so many months, almost an entire year, in fact, of being desperately in need of his touch, she was right back where she wanted to be. His steady deep breaths tickled the back of her neck as she had moved herself yet closer to him, wanting his body to envelope hers. No one else's arms had ever felt like this. She tried different arms, with nice feelings, but something was always not there.

* * *

With the summer at Grimmauld place drawing to a close, Ginny couldn't really be happier. It had been a dismal summer, and if she never saw a bottle of Trudy Truwright's all cleaning agent or Doxycide again, it would be too soon. The last few days had been good, however, what with Harry having been cleared of his charges at the ministry for defending himself against the dementors, meaning that he was indeed not going to be expelled from Hogwarts. Oh, and not to mention the 'entertaining' fact that Ron was a prefect. 

The morning to head to the Hogwarts Express was upon them and she gingerly pulled her trunk to her brother's room to once again help with the smuggling of merchandise. She tapped on the door. The red mop of George popped out.

"State your name and your business."

"I'm your sister, you git, and I happen to have some extra room."

George smiled, "You are definitely my favorite sister, you know that?" Ginny rolled her eyes as he eased the door open, looked both ways on the landing to make sure there was no Mrs. Weasley lurking, and lugged Ginny's trunk inside. Ginny started to follow but George put up a hand. "Top secret. No questions, remember." And with that he shut the door.

Ginny sighed and leaned on the wall next to the door, thinking lovingly about the new broom that awaited her secretly at Hogwarts. She had owled Michael earlier in the summer, asking him if he could order it and bring it to school, where she would pay him for it. Her new Cleansweep was a more basic version than the one Mrs. Weasley had bought Ron for his prefect present. Which was fine, she thought, as she was a better flyer than him anyway.

"COME ON!" A shrill yell echoed up the stairway on her direct left. Ginny grimaced, she was so sick of listening to her mother yell, "BOYS!" Mrs. Weasley yelled, trotting up the stairs. Ginny could see her frizzy red hair bouncing as she climbed, a menacing look on her face. She heard loud shuffles in the twins room as they realized she was on her way. The door swung open fast, and noiselessly her trunk shot out at her through the air, but not in time for her to register as it smacked into her, knocking her off of her balance and tossing her forward, right down the stairs.

"ARRGEEHHEEHHGGGHEEHH!" Ginny toppled down two flights of stairs ending up at the feet of her mother on the final landing. She winced as her mother started in with many healings spells while screaming at the top of her lungs at the twins at the same time.

"Mum, I'm fine." Ginny growled. In fact she didn't feel quite fine but a little pain was better than Mrs. Weasley's shreeks in one's ear any day.

"Are you sure, love?"

"Yeah, I'll just take the trunk downstairs." She said as she leaned up, reaching for the trunk that too had landing on the landing.

"No, no, dear, lets get someone else to do that." Ginny watched her scan around. "Harry! Can you take Ginny's trunk, she's been injured." She turned around to see Harry quickly moving up the stairs. He smiled at her as he grabbed the trunk, and she returned the smile with a set of rolling eyes pointed at her mother. Harry yet retured the rolling eyes with his own rolling eyes, his smile slightly larger, as he heaved her trunk away. Mrs. Weasley, oblivious to the eyes that had just rolled at her, smiled at Harry as he lugged the trunk down the stairs. "He is just so lovely sometimes. Isn't it just like you have another brother?" She smiled, casting one last healing spell on Ginny and then trotting up the stairs to thorougly ream the twins.

Ginny was so anxious to get to the Hogwarts Express, to get a chance to see her new broom that Michael had for her. She ran quickly through the barrier and onto the platform, searching through the crowd. Without any warning she was enveloped in a huge hug.

"Ginny! Oh, I'm so glad to see you!" Michael turned her around and kissed her square on the lips. She froze. It took her a second to register that the boy holding her was her boyfriend. Absensce hadn't really made her heart grow fonder, in fact, it had actually kind of made her _forget_. As he kissed her, he felt strange and foreign to her. She stared at him, his features slowly becoming more memorable, the ice blue eyes, thick smile. She remembered him now, but what she remembered more was--

"Do you have it?!"

"Huh?"

"My broom. Do you have it?" She jumped anxiously, a large smile flying across her face. She couldn't help but catch the look of disappointment on his face. She immediately felt guilty, maybe she should have said Hello first?

"Uh, yeah, it's in my trunk on the train, You can get it when we sit down. I've saved us a compartment."

"Great." She smiled, but it didn't quite go to her eyes. He looked at her desperately.

"How was Romania?" he asked, shuffling his hands nervously, trying in vain to get her to utter something.

"It was...good. Sorry I didn't write so much, dragon burn, on my hand." she looked down at her perfect healthy hand. "It just healed up though." she smiled at him quirkily.

"You can tell me all about it on the train!" he said quickly, leading her.

"Oh! I've got to go say good bye to my family, I'll...uh...I'll find you on the train." She jogged away from him, quickly, shaking her head. _That was_ _weird_! She felt as though a complete stranger had just kissed her and hugged her. Though, it had been two whole months, and that is quite a long time.

She said a quick good bye to her family and the rest of the Order members and quickly boarded the train with everyone. The train was packed as it started to move. She moved to cross in front of Ron, Harry and Hermione, but Ron and Hermione walked off in front of her, sorry looks on their faces. She turned around to see Harry standing there alone, an awkward and lonely look in his eyes. _Ouch_, she thought, _prefect duty_. All thought of Michael fled from her as she grabbed Harry's forearm lightly, leading him through the corridors so that they could find a compartment. He had looked so sad and alone, there was absolutely no way she was going to leave him.

"I don't think there's an empty seat left." Harry grimaced as she walked past full compartment after full compartment. "Oh, this one has a couple of spaces," he said, a few steps ahead of her.

"Who's in there?"

"Some Ravenclaws, I think. The only one I know is Michael Corner." he looked up, shrugged, and moved his hand to open the compartment.

"Er, no, lets keep going, I bet we can still find an empty on somewhere." She said, purposefully dropping something from her pocket so she could pick it up and move under the window of the compartment door, as to avoid Michael. Harry shrugged and kept walking. Near the front of the train they ran into Ginny's old Yule Ball date, Neville, who joined their parade for seats. Directly upon finding him, Ginny gave a sigh of relief. An almost empty compartment, filled only with Luna Lovegood. Luna was a fourth year Ravenclaw, and a girl that Ginny had on many occasions stopped Billy and Catherine from making fun of. She was eccentric, yes, but Ginny had come to appreciate her many quirks, maybe not appreciate them so much, but they were so funny that Ginny did enjoy them thorougly.

The first part of the train right was pretty perfect, what with Luna being her odd self and Harry and Ginny trading jokes back and forth with an occasional interjection from Neville or Luna. It was all lovely, that was, until Neville pulled out his new present from his great uncle, a disgustingly odd looking plant. Ginny eyed it and gave Harry a look, who returned a similar one, Ginny had a feeling that it wasn't going to turn out well. And she was right. One poke to the plant from Neville and the entire room was covered in a terrible smelling sticky green liquid. So happy that she had quick reflexes, she took down her arms to see Harry spit out a chunk of the gunk onto the floor. And at that the compartment door opened.

Ginny whipped around and wide eyed had to bite her tongue to stop from laughing. Standing in the compartment doorway was none other that Cho Chang, greeting Harry awkwardly as though she had just walked in on something that she really wasn't supposed to see. If Ginny's fist hadn't been covered in the green gook, she would have stuffed in her mouth to stop from laughing.

Cho left quickly and Ginny slowly turned to Harry. If you could see his face through the layers of green slime, it would have been a face like his puppy had just died. And at that Ginny realized something. Harry had a definite crush on Cho, but that wasn't the realization, Ginny had known that forever. What she realized was that it didn't really bother her. Of course a little part of her twinged, but for the most part she felt bad for her _good friend _Harry that his first fifth year impression on Cho had been while covered in stinksap. He was her _friend_, and most of all, she was _happy _about it.

She smiled as she spiritedly pulled out her wand, and with a cleaning charm she had heard her mother use so many times that summer, drained the room of any trace of green. That was, except Harry's face, which was green for an entirely different reason. She laughed to herself, patting him on the shoulder comfortingly as she decided that maybe it was time to take a trip to her boyfriend Michael's compartment and attempt being a decent girlfriend.


	17. The Cleanswept Boyfriend

As she walked through the main doors of Hogwarts that night, she could feel it in the air. This was not the same place she had left two months prior. She couldn't put her finger on what exactly the change was, but it was think in the air.

It came clear quickly, in two separate ways. Upon entering the Great Hall for the feast, she felt the eyes of the entire Hall turn on her and the rest of her group, setting on Harry in a way she had never seen before. She felt her stomach drop. She had heard from people in the Order that a lot of negative press had been put out over the summer against Harry, stating that he was lying about the return of Voldemort. At the time she hadn't thought much of it, being cooped up in Grimmauld Place seemed to have cut her off from the wider wizarding world. Plus, she just couldn't comprehend how anyone could think that he was lying about seeing Voldemort return to the flesh. However, she thought, they hadn't seen the pain in his eyes when it burned a hole through her soul that day.

The second thing was the appearance of a new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. A smug giggly woman dressed in pink who had a lot to say in a 'welcome' speech about necessary changes at Hogwarts. The fact that this woman felt the need to give a speech was one thing, but the syrup covered threat inside the words of her speech was what really made the mood alter. Something was not right.

Once they were excused from the feast, Ginny rushed up to the Gryffindor common room and grabbed the bag of Galleons from her trunk. Earlier in the day, having gotten the courage up to visit Michael's compartment on the train, she had asked Michael to meet her in a certain deserted corridor so they could make the trade off of broom for gold. It had been obvious when speaking to him that Michael too was looking very forward to the trade off.

She stuffed the bag of Galleons into her robes as she climbed out of the portrait hole, and stealthily, she snunk her way through the halls, careful not to be seen. Curfew was a mere fifteen minutes away.

Successful in her sneak, she turned into the corridor and there stood her beautiful, wonderful, fabulous, amazing, gorgeous...broom. And leaning on that broom was the boy that she called her boyfriend. Looking at him from the end of the corridor, she analyzed Michael quickly. He really was an attractive guy, he had a big smile, warm eyes, a strong build, a large helping of baby fat still residing in his cheeks. All she'd have to do is reacquaint herself with him and her awkwardness would fade away...she hoped.

Suddenly, a smile shooting across her face, she broke into a run and grabbed the broom, inspecting it to its last inch.

"Meets your requirements?" Michael asked as she reacted to the broom in a way that she had never reacted to him.

"Definitely." She said, short of squealing. "Thanks again, Michael, I really appreciate your help. If I'd found a way to get it sent to me at Gr-omania, I would have, but between being so, er, far away and the brothers, I couldn't risk it." She smiled, handing him the bag of Galleons.

"So we've got seventy Galleons..." he said, absentmindedly fingering the bag, "But where's my 'awesome boyfriend bonus'?" He smiled, leaning in and closing his eyes.

"Oh don't worry, I added an extra ten Galleons in there for you, as a thank you." And at that his eyes popped open. For some reason the look in his eyes was not a happy one, but rather a lost and disappointed one. At once she realized what he'd wanted and felt guilty.

She sighed inwardly. She had nothing against this boyfriend of hers. She just felt a little weird touching him. _There isn't anything wrong with him._ She thought as she stared into his eyes. And she did remember enjoying his kisses.

Again, she prodded herself, she just needed to reacquaint herself. _And what better time than the present?_ She thought as she knocked her lips against his, releasing from him a surprised moan. As she kissed him, the weirdness officially began to fade, slightly.

Suddenly she gasped and pulled away. Looking down at her feet...it was Mrs. Norris.

Waving a quick good bye to each other they ran opposite ways in the direction of their own common rooms. She weaved in and out of hallways with incredible precision. She truly was the little sister of Fred and George Weasley. Just as she was about to turn the final corner on the way to the Gryffindor common room she heard voices. Panicking, she looked around, seeing no place to hide. She had only one choice and took no time to choose it as she mounted her wonderful new broom and rose herself up to the high vaulted ceiling, flying herself into a dark corner. As she hovered there, she almost forgot about the voices as she was caught up on being on her new broom. But the voices, coming louder around the corner toward her, brought her back. As the people rounded the corner, she winced. It was Draco Malfoy, git, the new Slytherin prefect, and hand in hand was Pansy Parkinson, the other new Slytherin prefect.

"Well, I guess since we're the ones patrolling the halls, we aren't about to get caught now are we?" Pansy cooed, as she leaned against the wall and allowed Draco to kiss her. Ginny, hovering twenty feet away, felt her stomach lurch as she watched the decrepit scene. The sloppy loud snog filled with more Slytherin moans than anyone could endure for a lifetime lasted much longer than Ginny could take, causing her to make the rash decision. It would also be a spectacular way to take her broom on its maiden voyage.

Quickly analyzing how close the portrait hole was once rounding the corner, thus deciding her speed, she silently pulled the back of her robes over her hair, concealing any whisps of red that would give her away. And then, without delay, she scooped her broom handle down with all its might and shot straight at the snoggers. She was only three feet away when she heard Pansy's screams, and she instantly pulled up on the broom handle and headed for the corner.

"It's called a Wronski Feint! Like to see you try it Malfoy! If you don't go blind from kissing that Hag!" She yelled with glee as she heard footsteps run after her. Fifteen feet, Ten feet, Five feet. She stopped flat at the portrait.

"Mimbulus Mimbletonia!" She whispered excitedly as the Fat Lady rolled her eyes, opening quickly. She buzzed in as the portrait shut, and she lovingly heard the distinct sound of a body smacking against a door.

Ginny dismounted her broom swiftly before entering the common room. Happy to see the common room empty, she skipped through and up the dormitory stairs, kissed the handle of her broom, and entered the fourth years dormitory with a smile from ear to ear.


	18. Dumbledore's Army?

Ginny's intuition upon entering the doors of Hogwarts on the first evening had been correct. Hogwarts was turning less friendly by the day. Especially if you happened to run around with Harry Potter's crowd, which she undeniably did. Students left and right were snubbing him, afraid of him, mocking him, and in return mocking anyone who stood up for him. Add to that the terrible pink toad of a DADA professor that was making lives a living hell as well. Ginny had already served two detentions for her and the back of her hand, though not scarred, was nice and red from Umbridge's token punishment, the vicious blood quill that she had been forced to do lines with.

So it was to be understood, as a Weasley, that a bit of dissent was necessary. She could feel it in her blood, she could see it in the eyes of her brothers. Oddly, she could even see it in the eyes of Hermione.

"Gin, scoot over here." Hermione whispered a little too quietly in the evening buzz of the common room, Ginny sighed and moved away from her favorite spot next to the fire. As the year grew colder, the stone walls wern't exactly warming.

"What's up?" she asked, hoping it was important enough to have moved her from her spot.

"Well, I wanted to talk to you about something, and, er, maybe ask for a little help. Gin, do you feel like you're learning anything in Defense Against the Dark Arts?"

Ginny laughed at her, "Unless you count that I've learned to mouth off to professors without a care in the world, then no, I haven't learned a damn thing." She smiled a sugary smile, feigning innocence.

"See, me either, and frankly it's driving me berserk. So, er, last week I was talking to Ron and Harry about it and I came up with this idea that we put together a sort of defense club, like group a practical group study."

"ookay..."

"Originally I was just thinking a few of us, then I started to think that maybe others might be interested. Like, er, Michael for instance, do you think he'd be interested?" Ginny frowned.

"Honestly...I really haven't got a clue what Michael's interested in... but I'll definitely ask him." She shrugged.

"Well, good, because I was kind of hoping that you could help me get the word around to the Ravenclaws, since you have so many friends over there." Hermione had a nervous look on her face as she pushed a chunk of her bushy hair out of her eyes. Asking help was not one of her strong suits, and Ginny could tell by the look in Hermione's eyes that this was torturous.

"Yeah, I can get the word around." She smiled, trying in vain to sooth her friend.

"Great! Okay, the meeting will be at the Hog's Head in Hogsmeade next Saturday during Hogsmeade day. One o'clock. Tell them to bring any questions or ideas. Oh, and Harry will be the teacher." she said, standing up to leave. Ginny grabbed her arm quickly.

"What? What will Harry be teaching?" the confused red head asked.

"He'll be leading the study group, of course." Hermione stated plainly. But then, sensing a need for further explanation, she sat back down with what seemed like a well rehearsed speech, "Listen, Harry has more experience with defense against dark arts than anyone else I can think of. I mean, think about it, Harry has fought You-Know-Who how many times?" staring at Ginny wide eyed, obviously for effect, "Three times, Gin. Four if you count when he was a baby. I think he's more than capable of teaching."

Ginny paused, then continued warily, eyeing Hermione, "Right...but does _Harry_ think he's capable of teaching? Because, honestly, it doesn't really sound like Harry to think that up." Ginny knew very well that when it came to talking about his experiences with Voldemort, Harry was very seclusive and would only bring it up at times of importance. She had always understood this about him and respected it whole heartedly as she too was not one to talk much about her own experiences with Voldemort.

Hermione sighed, "Harry's more capable than he realizes." she paused, Ginny's forceful eyes bearing into her. "But, yeah, it was my idea."

"Just tell me he's agreed to it." Ginny was not about to help set up a situation in which Harry wasn't comfortable.

"Of course he has. Now, will you help me?" Hermione said through gritted teeth, her patience was getting tried.

Ginny sighed. "Hog's Head, one o'clock on Hogsmeade day." And at that Hermione burst into a smile and hugged Ginny, kissing her on the forehead. Ginny laughed to herself, noting how similar Hermione was in many ways to her own mother, Mrs. Weasley.

--------------------------------------------------------------

"Um...I don't know." Michael said, obviously not too jazzed about the idea of spending his Hogsmeade day in a defense meeting. For the most part, Ginny had had major luck convincing the Ravenclaws. Of course her friends Billy and Cat were in, as well as a large group of third years, Michael's own friends Terry and Anthony, and much to Harry's liking and Ginny's sacrifice, Cho Chang. Though it hadn't been difficult as Cho jumped at the idea the second Ginny mentioned Harry.

"Okay, Michael, _why_ don't you want to go?" She challenged him, stuffing a scrap of toast in her mouth at breakfast. She wasn't going to go down without a fight.

"Honestly.." Michael bit his lip, avoiding her eyes, "I just don't know if I want to learn from Harry Potter." Ginny's eyes grew wide as her hand subconsciously tightened around her wand.

"Are you saying that you're with the _idiots_ who don't believe him?" Ginny asked, a warning tone in her voice.

"Ginny, I'm not saying that. I just...I don't know." He said quietly, oddly emotional for Michael. Ginny's eyes narrowed as it hit her. Was he _threatened? _Was it possible that Michael knew that Ginny used to harbor intensely powerful feelings for the amazing raven haired boy sitting the next table? Did Michael notice Ginny's sideways glances and smirks when Harry would walk down the hall in front of her or get up from his seat at the Gryffindor table, or fly his broom? (Ginny couldn't help it, crush or not, Harry had a wonderful bum.)

"Whatever." She shrugged it off, not wanting to venture down that possible track, and also needing to distract herself from the lovely thought of Harry's bum, "Listen. Either way, I'm going to be at the Hog's Head at one o'clock on Saturday. So...if you want to spend the Hogsmeade day with me, the only way you can do it is if _you _are at the Hog's Head at one o'clock. Think about it." and with that she got up and walked straight out of the Great Hall, hair dancing in triumph.

Needless to say, Michael showed up to the meeting, along with about twenty others. After an awkward meeting full of people there only to question Harry, a group was formed. As they left the Hog's Head, Ginny smiled at Michael.

"See, that wasn't too bad, was it?" She asked, nudging him. A small smile played across his face.

"No. Once Cho reminded everyone about all of the things he did in the Triwizard Tournament, I realized he'd probably be a good guy to learn a few things from." Ginny's eyebrows wrinkled together, trying to figure out how of all things, _that_ bit of information was the deciding factor. Either way, the D.A. was formed, and she was actually quite looking forward to it.

The first meeting came rather quickly, much to Ginny's liking. Upon entering the secret room, she felt a real thrill of anticipation run through her. What they were doing was highly secretive and terribly against the rules, and she wouldn't have had it any other way. It was like a students Order of the Phoenix, and if she couldn't be part of the adult Order, she was ecstatic to be part of the student one. Harry asked everyone to pair off to work on the Expelliarmus Charm first. Ginny traipsed the few steps up to her boyfriend and stared him in the eye, wand ready.

"Care to duel, Corner?" She mock sneered, backing away from him. Michael gave her a half hearted smile, shrugged, and backed away. "Ready?"

"Er...ye-" but he wasn't fast enough.

"Expelliarmus!" She yelled, flawlessly disarming her opponent/boyfriend. He scurried over to get his wand, and plodded right back into place. "Okay, I'll give you time to get ready this time."

"Gin," He hesitated, "I don't know...I don't think this is a good idea." He squeaked as she pushed shaggy hair out of his eyes.

"What's not a good idea?" she asked, putting down her wand slightly.

"I just...I don't know...I can't...I can't attack a _girl_." He shrugged sheepishly.

Like something had flipped an automatic switch in her, Ginny's blood began to boil and her face turned scarlet to match her hair. "Expelliarmus!" she yelled without warning, and once again, Michael's wand shot out of his hand, but he didn't go to retrieve it. "What do you _mean _you can't attack a girl?" She spat, stalking toward him forcefully.

"I just...well...I'd feel bad." He said quietly, staring at his feet. At that Harry walked up, handing Michael his wand.

"That was a really great execution Gin!" He smiled, oblivious to the lover's spat he had interrupted, "You put your whole self into that one."

"Thank you, Harry!" She said, a bit too enthusiastically as a smile beamed across her face, her eyes glancing at Michael, who was staring daggers at Harry. Harry turned to Michael.

"Here, let me show you what you need to work on, your stance is...well, actually, just watch me, watch my arm motion, Michael. Gin, are you ready?" Harry asked, positioning himself where Michael had been standing, holding his wand erect. Ginny smiled.

"I'm always ready Harry."

"Expelliarmus!"

"Expell--!" But he was too quick for her, her wand flew out of her hand as she shot back roughly five feet, falling smack on her bum, her red hair flying out of the pony tail and splaying all around her. Michael and Harry ran over to her.

Michael leaned down, "Ginny, are you alright?" he asked, looking alarmed. But Ginny ignored him as Harry handed her wand to her and held out his hand casually to pull her up.

"That was AWESOME!" Ginny said as she jumped up, rubbing her bum with her hand. "Again, let me try one more time."

She bounded back to where she had been standing and took her dueling stance immediately, adrenalin coursing wonderfully through her veins. Harry smiled and ran his hand through his unruly black hair, as strands fell right back into his face. "Let's see if you can take me twice, Potter." Ginny threatened, fire dancing in her eyes.

Harry took his stance one more time, his green eyes locking with hers, the challenge met fully. Harry Potter was not one to back down from a challenge, girl or not. Ginny smirked at him, he wryly smirked back, daringly raising his eyebrows. Ginny could feel the heat coursing through every part of her as she stared deep into the eyes of her opponent. Every part of her was on fire as-

"Expelliarmus!"

"Expelliarm--" But this time Harry shot back, staggering, as his wand flew high out into the air. "Nice, Weasley!" He conceded, a smile on his face as he went to grab his wand. Ginny noted easily that the look in his eyes was not one of being impressed. She smiled, realizing that Harry knew what she was capable of, he had fully expected that she could do that.

"Michael, you got it?" Harry asked sincerely as he walked away, leaving Ginny's mutinous boyfriend in his dust, Harry completely unaware of the fury that was being shot at him from Michael's eyes.


	19. Gryffindor's New Seeker

Michael didn't say much about what had happened at the first D.A. meeting, but he did happen to seem a bit too happy a couple of weeks later when Harry, along with Fred and George, got banned from playing Quidditch because they beat the snot out of Malfoy directly after winning the match. It was a terribly unfair thing to do to Harry. Ginny, like the rest of the Gryffindor house, was not happy. Ginny had heard about the ban directly from Harry as he entered the common room after speaking to Umbridge. He was a mess, not that she blamed him, she definitely would have been, too. But for the first time, she didn't really know what to say, or how to console him. All she really wanted to do was sit there and be miserable along with him and Hermione. As the hours passed, she heard the story told over and over to the rest of the Quidditch team, as well as other Gryffindors, finding herself telling it after awhile so Harry didn't have to go into detail for the seventh time in an hour.

By the end of the evening, Ginny, Harry, Hermione, Fred, and George, as well as the Quidditch captain Angelina and the fellow team chasers, Katie and Alicia, were sitting around the fire in an empty common room, all sulking together silently. Quietly, she heard two of the girls whispering, the rest of the group lost in their thoughts.

"When do you want to hold tryouts?" Katie prodded Angelina lightly, Angelina sighed.

"I think we should wait at least a week...let this blow over, maybe the ban will be lifted?" her eyes feigning hopefulness, then falling.

"Okay, lets wait a week, but then we _really_ need to fill out the team. Oh Gods this is going to be terrible," Katie grimaced.

Ginny felt her heart start to race slightly as she stared fixedly at a knot in the wood of the coffee table in front of her. Ginny had always dreamed of playing chaser, but she was sure that she could play seeker pretty well. She glanced at Harry. Could she do that to him? Could see sneak in under his nose and take his place on the team? She scrunched her face up in thought as the girls and her brothers left the room, leaving only herself, Harry, and Hermione.

"Ginny, are you alright?" Hermione implored, noting a pained look on Ginny's face. Ginny's head shot up out of her internal battle.

"Yeah, I'm, er, fine. Really tired. Need bed," and with that she turned to Harry, looking at him once, deciding that yes, she could in fact take his place on the team. But she'd have to be _good _or else he might hex her to death. The team was his baby, after all. "Feel better Harry, I promise this will blow over," She said, hugging him quickly around the shoulders. He didn't even look at her, but mumbled some incoherent words as she scooted upstairs to her dorm.

The next couple of weeks flew by as Ginny lied to Michael and her friends left and right about having to do 'homework' so that she could sneak out to secluded areas of the grounds and practice her flying. She did have an obscene amount of homework, but the idea of playing for the house team seemed to trump everything else in importance. Her Cleansweep was incredible, much better than the old brooms of Fred and George's, and she was getting better everyday.

The day of tryouts arrived and she was more than ready. She by no means saw herself as a natural seeker, but she was sure she could cut it. She traipsed out onto the field on the cold December midday, bundled up in the most flexible robe she could find, broom over her shoulder and her hair tied back sleekly, confidence oozing from every pore. She greeted Angelina as an old friend. Angelina laughed.

"There are always more Weasleys to go around aren't there? I mean, we lose two and then another one just pops up wanting to play." And with that, Angelina addressed all five people who were there to try out for seeker. The hodge podge group consisted of Colin Creevey, who was disqualified after it was obvious that he could hardly even mount his broom; Seamus Finnigan, as well as a third year brunette Ginny didn't know, and Dean Thomas, a rather attractive fifth year. Angelina decided to try them in alphabetical order, meaning Ginny could make herself comfortable and watch everyone closely.

Seamus flew first, and much to Ginny's surprise, he was really very terrible. Seamus was a huge Quidditch fan, but obviously love for the sport didn't translate into skill on a broom. Dean Thomas went next, and Ginny sat with rapt attention. He flew quite well, though his flying quality was better for that of a chaser. He did, however, look smashing on a broom, Ginny decided as she twirled a chunk of her ponytail absentmindedly, smirking to herself. Unfortunately for him, he had a bit of a butter fingers complex, and just couldn't seem to catch or grasp anything. The next to go was the brunette, who Ginny found out was named Romilda Vane. She didn't last long, as her incessant giggling drove Angelina so crazy that she asked her to leave before the girl could even mount her broom.

Ginny took a deep breath and made her way from the bleachers down to the pitch. First was a simple test of maneuvers. Ginny mounted her broom and shot up into the air. She flew flawlessly around the pitch, demonstrating everything she could think of. It felt amazing to have the icy winter wind whipping through her hair as she looked down onto an actual Quidditch pitch. She turned and scooped, dashed and shot, ending her skill set with her personal favorite maneuver, the good old Wronksi Feint.

Angelina whistled in acknowledgment at Ginny's show off stunt as she let a snitch into the air. Ginny kept her eye on it and zoomed straight at it with everything she had, but the stupid thing was too fast for her. Grimacing, she spotted it again, pulling herself right up to it before it dashed away. Finally, on her third try, the snitch was in her hand and she brought herself down to the ground. It wasn't a perfect try out, but it was definitely better than anyone else had done.

"Okay, I think I've seen everything I needed to see guys," Angelina said, addressing Seamus, Dean, and Ginny unceremoniously, "The new replacement seeker is Ginny Weasley, thanks for trying out. Ginny, can you make it tomorrow for practice?"

Ginny's smile was plastered so hard onto her face that it made it difficult to talk. "Er, yeah. Definitely," She spattered out as she hopped up to walk back to the castle. Dean and Seamus right behind her. Once out of the pitch, the boys rounded on either side of her.

"Great flying, Ginny, congratulations!" Dean said smiling. He was definitely a good loser.

"Surely your brothers didn't teach you that," Seamus joked as Ginny smiled at him.

"Not one bit of it. I'm completely self taught, thank you," She said as the boys laughed. And like this the three of them walked back up to the castle, Ginny joking with Dean and Seamus like they were old friends.

The news about Ginny's new position on the Quidditch team flew quickly through the school that evening. At the D.A. meeting later that night, she received many sly smiles and pats on the back, as well as dumbfounded looks from each one of her three brothers.

Michael, however, didn't seem too keen on the idea. More so, he seemed terribly jealous. "I'm telling you, the only reason I wasn't picked to be on my house team this year was because the captain favored all of their friends. I flew loads better than any of them. If any of _them _got kicked off the team I'd be a shoe in," Ginny rolled her eyes and cut him off.

"You know, a 'congratulations, I'm really happy for you.' would have sufficed." Ginny sneered as she pulled out her wand to start on the Impedimenta Jinx. Just then, Harry rounded around to her and Michael causing her stomach to drop nervously. She was terrified of what he was going to say when he found out that she was the new seeker.

"Are you guys having an alright time with the Jinx," he asked kindly.

"Of course, Professor Potter, thank you," Ginny said absentmindedly, pulling up her wand and directly saying _Impedimenta_ at Michael. And at that, Michael stood there frozen to the floor.

"You've really got your jinxes down, you know that?" Harry smiled lightly, running his hand through his hair.

"Thanks, jinxes are definitely my favorite," She mused, giggling at the dumbfounded look that was frozen on her boyfriend's face. A terribly awkward silence followed, causing Ginny to look anywhere but Harry.

"Umm...hey, i should probably congratulate you..." Harry finally muttered, catching her eye. His misery was mixed with actual happiness for her, she smiled.

"I totally got it because I showed off with the Wronski Feint. So, you know, it's still all your fault I got on the team."

"I'd let you borrow my Firebolt to play. But as it's locked up in a dungeon somewhere, I--"

"Oh, no biggie. I've got my own broom...but thanks though, that's really sweet," She said, feeling immensely flattered that Harry would offer something as big as his Firebolt. But then again, they were talking about the fate of the house team, which he would have probably laid down his life for.

"Oh. Are you borrowing Fred's or George's?" He asked, obviously confused as his eyebrows wrinkled..

"Nope, as I said, I've got my own broom. A new Cleansweep just like Ron's. It's pretty great." She bit her tongue to stop from gushing. Harry stared at her wide eyed.

"Where'd you get _that_?"

She shrugged innocently, flipping a chunk of hair over her shoulder, "Who knows," She smiled mischievously as Harry's green eyes narrowed on her.

"You are so definitely a Weasley," he said, smirking as he shook his head and walked away, leaving Ginny staring right at his amazing, perfectly sculpted--"You better take that Jinx off your boyfriend before he turns to stone." Harry said, not bothering to turn around as Ginny's face flushed the reddest it had in years. Good thing she'd frozen Michael while he'd been looking at his feet!


	20. Possession, Pain, and Understanding

Ginny crawled into bed that night with a wonderfully huge smile on her face. It had been a good day. She stared at the canopy above her four poster, dreams of Quidditch glory rushing through her mind, and slowly she dissolved into sleep, the same thoughts entering her dreams. She was high above the Quidditch pitch as the stands chanted her name. She saw the snitch, she shot her broom toward it, she was so close. Just then, she heard a loud _boom. _Her broom must have been hit by a bludger! She started careening out of control as she slipped off her broom and fell--

At that moment she felt her body hit the bed hard, as a strong pair of hands shook her. She mumbled, fighting off the intruding hands.

"Miss Weasley, please, this is urgent, you need to come with me," the forceful voice said as Ginny mumbled and batted away the hands. She felt the hand grab her own and drag her out of bed, she was awake now. Staring at the hand, she noted it was not young. She followed it up to the face of the person it belonged to and gasped audibly. Professor McGonagall had just pulled her out of bed in the middle of the night. "You need to follow me, Miss Weasley."

Ginny followed out of the dormitory in silence, only pulling herself together enough to speak once they entered the common room. "Professor, what's going on? Why are you--?" but at that moment her voice stopped as she saw the faces of her two older twin brothers, something was terribly wrong.

"Ginny, your father has been injured. Harry saw it. I'm taking you to Professor Dumbledore's office so we can arrange your leaving the castle." She said clearly, but the note of panic was not fully covered in her voice. Ginny followed Fred and George out of the portrait hole quickly in silenced shock. What could possibly have happened? How badly was her father injured? How had _Harry _been there?

Before she knew it, she was standing in front of a putrid looking gargoyle and hearing Professor McGonagall mutter 'Fizzing Whizbee.' The gargoyle moved, revealing an ascending spiral staircase. That's when she remembered it, they were going directly to Professor Dumbledore's office. She hadn't been there since first year, but if the emergency in first year was any sign (she had almost been killed by the memory of Tom Riddle, after all) of how bad something was to end up in Dumbledore's office, she couldn't start to imagine how badly her father had been hurt. Shock gave way to panic as she entered the office. The room was occupied by Dumbledore, Ron, and Harry.

The next few moments were a blur in which she only caught snippets of information, St. Mungo's, Grimmauld Place, Portkey, there was too much information to get through her shock and panic. The next thing she knew, she was sandwiched between Fred and Harry while holding onto a kettle. And right then she felt the swooping feeling of the portkey take her away. Before she knew it, her body was deposited heavily on a cold and damp stone floor.

She could only hope that she'd been deposited at Grimmauld Place, and as she heard Sirius's voice running toward her, she breathed a small sigh of relief. But the relief was short lasting as a string of questions flew out of her mouth, along with the mouths of every other Weasley, and Sirius. Harry stood there, eyes wide on the onslaught of questions. He looked more shaken than any of them. Slowly he began to explain the vision he had seen, that her father had been attacked terribly by a snake. Her stomach turned and her knees weakened as she pictured the scene. Terrible visions flew through her head. Her father, her amazing father, could die, could be dead right at that moment. Everything that had happened in the past few years, the deaths, the attacks, the return of Voldemort, her own attack, it had just gotten real--and very personal. She needed to see her father, she needed to _do _something. She looked around the room and caught the eyes of the twins, the need echoing in their own eyes. She nodded, her fiery hair matching the burning need to act. She announced that she needed to get to St. Mungo's as she strode toward the door. Sirius grabbed her arm.

Anger built up through her to a fever pitch as she watched Sirius take on the brothers in a verbal sprawl, all the while holding the arm of her dressing gown. And, quick as anything, her anger broke into the most helpless feeling she had ever experienced. As she surveyed the room, the faces of grief and fear, she knew that there was absolutely nothing they could do. A stinging burn began in her eyes and she bit it back as she forced her leaden legs to move to the table, collapsing in a chair with the last possible movement her legs could stand.

Her mother arrived after what felt like an eternity, and she bore great news that he was going to be okay. Two of the tears that had been stinging Ginny's eyes escaped as she let go of a breath she was sure she had been holding onto for hours. The Weasley's were okay. Which, as a Weasley meant the talking and joking was right back on, it was needed, in fact, to break the terrible silence that had plagued the room for hours. They sat at the kitchen table eating an early breakfast as the twins made relieved jokes back and forth, even Ron was in better spirits. She noticed quickly that there were two empty seats at the table. Sirius and Harry were nowhere to be found.

"Where'd they go?" she implored the table, pointing her fork at the empty seats before filling the fork full of egg again.

"Who knows, either Harry needed to talk to Sirius about the vision..." Ron said, followed by a sudden glint and smirk in his eye as he looked around the table, "Or he wanted to ask if all kisses are wet."

Eyes popped up all around the table, "What?"

"Oh, you know," Ron smiled, nonchalantly, making sure he had the attention of Fred and George as well,"Cho just kissed Harry last night, kind of threw him, probably why his mind was so messed up, maybe she opened a portal in his head or something," his smirk grew wider as he stuffed a piece of bacon into his mouth.

"Well, it's about time he kissed her, I've been sick of seeing him fawn all over her at D.A. meetings," Ginny quipped, slightly too tense. It didn't really bother her, did it? No, not at all.

"D.A. meetings?" Mrs. Weasley asked innocently, causing the three brothers to shoot death stares at Ginny.

"Er..." but the awkward silence was broken as Sirius and Harry entered the room and took their places at the table. Quickly, all eyes abandoned Ginny and fell right on Harry.

"What?" Harry quipped impatiently, stabbing his eggs viciously with his fork.

"Oh, nothing," Fred smiled, "Just having a lovely talk about your extracurricular activities."

"Yeah, Ron just told me you've taken up Chinese." George burst, as Harry spit out his eggs and rushed to not let his eyes fall out of their sockets at Ron.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Her fear and panic didn't truly leave her until her father hugged her tightly in his hospital bed in St. Mungo's. He was alive, she could feel him, and he was going to be fine. And at that moment she suddenly felt very tired. She had spent the entire night awake, and even through the morning, once her mother had arrived and said that he was going to be okay, she was still too wired to relax into sleep. As the day continued she felt herself come back to her. All she wanted, upon returning to Grimmauld Place that afternoon, was a hot bath and a week of sleep.

The next few days, which were leading up to Christmas, were nice ones. It felt odd being in such a drab place for Christmas, but Sirius seemed so excited at the prospect of having guests that the mood was high enough to black out the dank surroundings. The only feeling of dissent in the house was the fact that Harry had all but locked himself away, a detail that was irking the entire house. Ginny knew it was because of the snake incident. Harry was obviously being a prat and blaming himself. At St. Mungo's they had heard Mad-Eye Moody state that Harry might have been possessed and since that Harry had been nowhere in sight.

Now, this prospect was utter rubbish to Ginny. She knew for a fact he hadn't been possessed, because she herself knew exactly what it felt like. A point she angrily made to Harry on day three of his avoidance. Harry was being an insolent stubborn prat, and she wasn't going to stand for it anymore. Sitting on Ron's bed, flanked by Ron and Hermione, the three of them staged an intervention, forcing Harry to talk to them. She told him outright what it felt like to be filled with Voldemort as his eyes widened and shame filled them. He'd been too wrapped up in himself to even realize she might have some answers for him. After the uncomfortable intervention, she left the three of them alone, retiring herself to her room.

If the week had done one thing to her, it had dug up memories and feelings she had been burying for years. It made everything that happened with Tom Riddle feel so real again. And at that moment, it all caught up with her. She laid on her bed, shooing her hair away from her face as she stared blankly at the ceiling. She thought about the little girl she had been. Running her fingers over the palms of her hands, she remembered the nights she would wake up from a trance, those very palms covered in blood. Tears stung her eyes as she began to weep for the little girl who had seen so much, who had had her innocence ripped away from her. She shooed away the tears with the back of her hand as she thought deeply, but the tears wouldn't stay at bay.

She abruptly heard a soft knock on the door, bringing her out of her thoughts. She quickly wiped away tears and sat up, "Come in."

The door opened tentatively as a shot of black hair peeked through the opening, "Can I come in, Gin?" Harry asked meekly. She felt her face grow slightly hot as she cursed the fact that she had obviously just been crying.

"Yeah, Yeah, come in," she said, shaking any remaining thoughts out of her head. He shut the door quietly behind him, and then turned to walk toward the bed, stopping short at the sight of Ginny's tear stained face.

"Oh. Sorry...I...I didn't do that, did I?" He asked painfully, indicating the tears.

"No, not at all, I was just thinking...about Tom," the last part creeped out as a whisper, but by Harry's face, she could tell he heard it. She scooted to the edge of the bed and patted the spot on the bed next to her. Hesitantly, he sat down beside her, looking at his hands, avoiding her gaze. "What's up?" She asked, quickly trying to change the subject to Harry and away from her blotchy f.

"I just...I just wanted to apologize. I've been acting like a prat, when I just could have come to you to find out what I needed to know. I just didn't think about it," his voice was small, most unlike Harry.

"It's fine. Harry, you've just got to remember that you're not the only person in this world who's been affected." She said, placing her small hand on his shoulder.

He looked up at her desperately, "So...I wasn't possessed then, you're sure?"

"Definitely," She smiled as she watched the last bit of fear leave his eyes. They sat in silence for a brief moment, taking solace in each other, when suddenly he spoke, still quietly, but urgent.

"Would you take it back?" He asked.

"Take what back?"

"If you could go back and change it, so it never happened, so you never got the diary, would you?" He implored, his commanding eyes not letting hers go.

"No." she stated without delay, her answer surprising herself even more than him. "Never." She bit back another onslaught of tears as she realized that she would never change what had happened to her, "Harry, it's made me who I am. I mean, it was terrible but I'd never take it back." She smiled despite of herself, "It made me so much stronger than I ever would have been. Tom took my innocence, but there is no way in hell he's going to get another ounce of me. It taught me never to be weak and I couldn't imagine feeling at all safe without that strength, without knowing that I'm worth something, and that I'm willing to fight for it." She paused, the realization washing over her fully and, looking deep into his eyes, seeing that he understood, she smiled, letting a tear fall freely, "I'm just glad you saved me."

And with that she pulled him into a deep hug. She could feel Harry's body go rigid in surprise, but slowly melt into her embrace, "And my Dad. Merlin, you're like the Weasley family charm!" She laughed, breaking the serious moment in two as she pulled away and saw a smile in his eyes. Her eyes locked with his, feeling a small weight fly off of her shoulders that she hadn't even known was there, "Really, though. Thank you, I don't think I ever thanked you. I mean, you saved my life. Probably should have thanked you for that years ago," and she felt her heart flutter in a familiar yet forgotten way as he laughed. He had a wonderful laugh.

He laughed at her awkwardly, rustling his unruly hair with his hand,"It's weird to say 'you're welcome' to someone who just thanked you for saving their life. But, er, you're welcome?"

"Good, now that we have that settled, will you come downstairs with me and eat something?" The tone in her voice one of demand as she flung her hair behind her and stood up from the bed, waiting for him to take her lead.

He groaned audibly as he stood and followed her to the door, "You did, though. You did thank me." He said abruptly as they left the room, she turned around to face him, confusion on her face.

"When? I have no recollection of ever thanking you considering I couldn't even get myself to talk to you when I was eleven," she said as her face suddenly turned scarlet, this being the first time she ever acknowledged her childhood crush to Harry.

"The night it happened, in the hospital wing. It was cute, you squeaked it out like a mouse," he teased, nudging her as they walked down he stairs.

"Oh, I was so hopped up on whatever it was Madam Pomphrey forced down my throat that I don't remember anything for about a three day time span." She lied, suddenly remembering that night, and emitting a silent giggle to herself, the first night he'd called her Gin, the first night she'd had hope.


	21. Hormonal Advice

Christmas break at Grimmauld Place went quickly once Mr. Weasley was released from the hospital almost as good as new. However, as the last few days of break approached, the anxiety in the house began to rise. The wizarding world was becoming increasingly harder to live in as the denial of Voldemort's reappearance grew, and Hogwarts was turning out to be no exception. The evil hand of Dolores Umbridge was snaking deeper into the lives of the students, causing a right bit of headache, and none of them were looking forward to going back and enduring more. Ginny, however, had one good thing to look forward to--Quidditch. Though she wasn't speaking about it much, being respectful to the three banned players and the keeper (who didn't even like to _think _about Quidditch) that were mulling around the house, she was nothing less than giddy, and she could not wait to start practices again. Instead, she focused her talks with her brothers, Harry, and Hermione on the one thing they were all looking forward to: the D.A. meetings. Harry told her about the things he wanted to practice, techniques he wanted to try, teaching strategies, all with his eyes lighting up in a way that she hadn't seen from him for quite some time.

Needless to say, the anxieties they had been feeling were right on. Upon return to the castle, she found the corridors of Hogwarts more quiet, the students more solemn, even Fred and George seemed to have a bout of Hogwarts depression, though Ginny knew it wouldn't last long. She just kept telling herself: Quidditch and D.A..

"Quidditch and D.A. Quidditch and D.A.," She chanted to herself as she entered Umbridge's classroom for the first time after break. She sat in the back row biting her tongue throughout the entire lesson. She was by no means interested in serving another detention, or, as she suspected, giving Umbridge any chance at all to kick her off the Quidditch team. She sat silently through the never ending useless lesson and then ran quickly to dinner, needing to scarf back some food before the first D.A. meeting of the term. She definitely needed to hex something (in a safe and controlled environment...of course) after the last week of classes. She finished her dinner quickly and ran to the common room to change into a more useful robe for dueling. She deemed it her 'sports robe.'

Checking herself in the mirror quickly before leaving for the meeting, she couldn't help but smirk. There was something _different _about her, something almost womanly. It had taken awhile, but she was starting to enjoy the way her robes followed the new small curves of her body. She winked at herself gingerly as she hopped out of the mirror frame and down the stairs.

The common room was close to deserted as she entered, rushing straight toward the portrait hole. "Ginny!" called a voice she didn't quite recognize. She furled her brow as she turned around. Walking right toward her from the boy's dormitory was Dean Thomas, flashing her a dazzling smile. He stopped very close to her, making her scuttle back a few inches in surprise. "Mind if I walk with you? Seamus a right prat for not being involved, so I have no partner in crime."

"Does my walking with you mean that I have to be your substitute partner in crime?" She asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Not if you don't want to. I just want to enter the meeting in style. Can't enter alone, won't do it." he winked as he began to stride to the portrait hall, his robes billowing off of his body enticingly, Ginny followed, catching his stride.

The two walked briskly to the meeting, chatting shortly about their Christmases, their hatred for Umbridge, and the like. Ginny found Dean pretty good company, she wondered why she had never really noticed to him prior to Quidditch tryouts. Quickly, they arrived outside of the Room of Requirement, and after doing the entrance ritual, stepped into the room full of students chatting and getting ready for the meeting. Ginny winced slightly as Dean forcibly allowed her to enter first, ("Ladies first. No, I _insist._"). Chivalry had never been her favorite concept. Almost everyone was already there as they entered, and many had already paired off. She scanned the room for Michael, but he was nowhere to be found.

"Ginny!" yelled a girl's voice. She looked to her side to see Cho walking up to her. Ginny cocked her head in interest as Cho smiled meekly at her, "Michael asked me to tell you that he won't be here tonight, he's feeling sick." She shrugged as she passed Ginny to cross to Harry, beginning a sickenly cute conversation.

"Want to be my partner tonight?" Dean asked without delay, bringing a smirk and a cocked eyebrow to her face.

"Why not, better you than Neville, right?" She smiled as they went to an empty spot in the room and spread out to begin the meeting. Harry was having them work on spells needed to trap an opponent in conjunction with shield charms.

Rounding her opponent masterfully, she decided upon her first curse, as Dean eyed her amusedly, "I hope you're ready, Mr. Thomas. I don't play around," she growled.

"I'm not worri--" but he wasn't able finish his sentence.

"Pertificus Totalus!" She cried, wielding her wand quickly.

"Proteg--!" she never heard the end of the word as Dean's body seared up tightly and hit the floor in a full body bind.

"Nice one, Gi--!" Yelled Ron, directly before being hit by a shot of light and solidly hitting the floor, by way of a ruthless Hermione. Ginny smiled as she performed the counter curse, releasing Dean from the freeze. He stood up in a slight daze and shook out his body.

"You know, that's terribly uncomfortable," he winced, shaking out a leg, "And not being able to blink, terrible! Okay, my turn." He turned on a dime, facing off against his red headed opponent. She smiled inwardly, she'd never had this much fun dueling with someone... with the exception of Harry, of course. Dean was treating her like an opponent, someone he just wanted to knock down and--

"Pertificus Totalus!"

"Protego!" Ginny cried, her shield charm emitting such a strong response that Dean staggered, almost tripping over the hem of his robes. He shook his head, "I would never want to be caught in a fight against you."

"I will take that as the utmost compliment, Dean, thank you," She bowed, before cursing him again and knocking him to the floor. It continued on like this for quite some time. Dean had succeeded a couple of times to curse Ginny, but she had kind of allowed him to do it, as the stance of his body was so alluring as he shot a hex that she just decided to stand and watch. Quicker and quicker they went back and forth, Dean removing his robe as the temperature in the room soared, causing Ginny to bite her lip.

"Pertificus Totalus!'

"Protego!"

"Pertificus Totalus!"

"Protego!"

"Incarcerous!"

Ginny's eyes widened as she saw a series of black cords shoot at her from Dean's wand, wrapping around her tightly and causing her to be completely bonded while knocking her into the wall. She stared at Dean in shock as he shot her the most aggravating smile. An odd and foreign feeling shot through her, hot and undeniable, threatening to make her sweat further. She watched helplessly as Dean walked over to her in slow motion, each step he took making her breath a little more shallow. He quickly seared through each of the cords with his wand, his face ever so close to hers.

"I definitely got the better of you that time, didn't I?" He asked as he cut the final cord, leaving her wide eyed.

"...Uh-huh," was all she could breathlessly mutter as she stared at him, mouth agape. A far off voice called the end of the meeting. But she couldn't move. She felt frozen to the wall for reasons that had nothing to do with the after shock of pertificus totalus. After a moment, she realized Dean was no longer inches from her face, but had backed away and was beckoning to her to follow. Dean looked at her warily as they left the room.

"Sorry I didn't warn you that I was going to change it up. I just thought it would be a nice difference. Are you okay?"

"Marvelous." She said in a voice no more than a whisper, staring trance like in front of her, a small bemused smile hiding on her lips, "Just marvelous."

It took Ginny a good few days to shake off her hormone driven D.A. session, but she succeeded at putting it behind her. She had more important things to focus on as Quidditch practices and homework revved up again. But much to her dismay, the practices were not turning out to be everything she had hoped for. Mostly, and she hated to admit it, because her brother was being a near terrible keeper. Quidditch practices were quickly becoming just as dreaded as bad classes and homework.

After a particularly cold and terrible practice the Thursday before Valentine's day, she trudged into the common room, finding Harry and Hermione by the brightest fire in the room. The warmth of the fire drew her to them. She plopped down on the couch and stuck her hands and feet toward the fire immediately. Harry and Hermione looked at her with puzzled looks on their faces.

"What?" She snapped.

"Bad practice?" Hermione asked tentatively.

"Don't even ask. What have you guys been up to?" she asked, hoping for a change of subject. Harry went a little white as Hermione sniggered.

"Oh, I was just trying to give him advice on what to do with Cho during their Hogsmeade date Saturday."

Ginny felt a wicked smile play across her face, "Aww! Little Harry-kins has his first real date!" she giggled jokingly as she enjoyed watching a deep crimson color shoot up Harry's face. "Really, whatever you do, don't take her to Madam Puddifoot's?"

"Madam what?" he asked, seemingly clueless.

"Well, if you don't know, then I'll just leave you to find out. Have a good time though, I'm stuck in Quidditch practice all day. Michael is going to be none to happy," She groaned audibly as she felt the feeling come back in her left index finger.

"Seriously? On Hogsmeade Day?" Harry asked, a great deal of shock covering his face.

"Oh, you wouldn't be surprised if you'd been at our last three practices. It's really...Oh, Harry, it's just terrible." She paused, looking at her brother's friends, "Er...don't tell Ron I said that."

"Your secret's safe with me." She smiled at Harry as Hermione stretched and packed up her books.

"I'm going to bed, I've got to be up early to go to the library, Good night!" She chimed as she stood up, leaving Harry and Ginny alone by the fire. They sat silence for quite some time, both deep in their own thoughts. Harry was the first to break it.

"Gin, what do people _do _on a date to Hogsmeade?" She cocked her head and eyed him, a smirk playing on her features. He looked utterly terrified. A small laugh emitted from her, she couldn't help it, he looked adorable. His hair was extra messy, as it looked like he'd been trying to pull it out in frustration. He was completely doe eyed for the moment, the reflection of the fire dancing in the fear they held, and his brow was furrowed like he was just about to be locked in a room with a Hungarian Horntail.

"You are completely clueless when it comes to girls, you know that?" she teased, turning her body to face him, her feeling back in nine of her ten fingers.

"You don't have to rub it in," He said, ruffling his hair for the fiftieth time, "I just don't know what I'm supposed to _do _with her." He paused suddenly, eyeing Ginny. She shuffled slightly under his gaze as he leaned closer to her, "You're an attractive, popular Hogwarts girl."

"Ah, well placed sir," she said, patting him on the shoulder in mock congratulations for his amazing deducement. Thus accidental positioning herself a slight bit too close to him.

Harry mock glared at her. Then, in a tone of complete interest, asked, "What do _you_ like to do when _you_ go on a date to Hogsmeade?"

She smiled at him guiltily as she felt the red fly up into her cheeks. He was sitting so close to her, and all that suddenly ran through her head was the endless stream of day dreams she had once had about amazing Hogsmeade dates with this very boy, this gorgeous raven haired quirky boy who...She felt the smile grow stupidly on her face and suddenly was jarred with that once familiar burning deep inside her chest as he stared at her deeply, his emerald eyes searing a hole through her. It was as if something inside of her was trying to claw its way out of her in order to get to him. He cocked his eyebrow at her in interest and at that her silence betrayed her.

"Harry? You want to know what my _perfect_ Hogsmeade date would be?" She paused. He was sitting in front of her with rapt attention, causing her to heart to speed up even more as he implored her, "Now, I've never gotten it. Michael's not very, er, creative..." The boy in front of her was _gorgeous_, he...,"But I personally think Hogsmeade dates aren't about going to the shops, spending gold, and walking around aimlessly holding hands and all that," she smirked as he nodded in agreement, smiling at her slightly as he licked his chapped lips, causing the itching in her chest to have a seizure. She stared at his wet lips, dumbstruck, just completely--"Harry, my prefect Hogsmeade day would be to just disappear from every other person from school, find an alley, and just snog you senseless," SHIT! SHIIITT! "er--_**my date...**_senseless...or--er _your date_..or--" She sputtered quickly and loudly as she scooted back on the couch.

"You want to...snog my date senseless?" Harry asked in a slightly confused tone, fully unaware of the MAJOR admission that had just flown out of her mouth.

"No Harry!" She let out a forced laugh while shaking her head, silently praising Merlin that he was so thick. She breathed deeply, oxygen once again available to her, "I'm just...I'm just saying that going with friends to Hogsmeade and going on a...on a _date _there should be two entirely different experiences. I-I just don't really find Gladrags or Dervish and Banges all that dateworthy. But, er, you'll be fine. I'm sure she'll enjoy whatever you decide, Good night." He smiled at her slightly as she stood up, intent of getting away from Harry so that his veritaserum laced eyes could steal no more of her secrets.


	22. Bumbles with the Breakup

_"What was that all about?" _she asked herself as she stared at the top of her four poster, unable to close her eyes. Her body was just starting to calm down from her interaction with Harry. It still held a light buzz. She cursed her traitorous tongue for what it had uttered but she couldn't deny it, she truly was still attracted to him, but he was her _friend, _and she considered him a good one at that. Plus, he was completely out of her grasp, maybe not _quite _as out of her grasp as he had been previously, but still completely unattainable. She knew it was never going to happen. So with a little twinge, she wrote it off.

However, what she couldn't write off was the fact that her hormones had been doing crazy tricks lately. First with Dean, then with Harry. The problem was, in this onslaught of hormones, none of them, not even one little bit, was dedicated to her actual boyfriend. And she had no idea what to do about that. Lately, she hadn't even given Michael a second thought. And whenever she did speak to him or spend an afternoon with him, she wanted to strangle him as he was constantly sulking. He would walk with his shoulders hunched, eyeing people curiously, constantly complaining about how he missed Ginny and how they never got enough time together...which annoyed Ginny thoroughly. She sighed as she realized, though she'd known it for awhile, but it was time for action. It was time to break up with Michael.

This wasn't quite an exciting prospect for Ginny. She didn't know what to say or how to go about it. "_I'm totally attracted to two Gryffindors, and you're not one of them, you Ravenclaw.." _naw, gave too much away, "_I wish I could muffliato your voice, but I can't, so it's over..."_ no, it wasn't his voice she hated, just what he whined about with it, "_I don't find you very interesting, plus you kiss like a fish,"_ she laughed at this one, probably not the best, but entertaining none the less.

The prospect of spending the entirety of Valentine's Day day on the Quidditch pitch suddenly became so much more inviting than a trip to Hogsmeade with him. She wasn't sure if she could've handled breaking up with Michael at stupid Madam Puddifoot's on Valentine's Day, he definitely didn't deserve that kind of cruelty. She'd just put it off a few days, a few days couldn't hurt. Just until after Valentine's Day. That wasn't long, right?

But Valentine's day passed. No break up. And the next week passed, again she put it off, gritting her teeth as she hexed him time and time again with a trip jinxes, levitation charms, and bat-bogey hexes at the next D.A. meeting. Regardless of whatever terrible thing she threw at him, he would throw nothing back. She wanted a guy who could _fight, "Yet just another reason to dump him_," she thought as she caught Dean Thomas's eye across the room, her stomach swooping as he winked at her, causing her to accidentally shoot yet another tripping jinx right at her boyfriend, landing him on his back so hard that he passed out and had to be taken to the hospital wing. Obviously, yet again, no break up. And as the days went on, she stalled more and more, until suddenly she became so bogged down with Quidditch practice that the prospect of even running into Michael in the hallway was bleak.

Angelina stepped up training as her first match drew nearer. The team was a right mess, and Hufflepuff, though usually the weakest team, was beginning to look like a menacing lot. She had to focus. "_I'll just put it off until after the match," _she reassured herself. She had, truth be told, been waiting ten years to play in her first real Quidditch match and even if the team she was on was currently horrid, she owed it to herself to put her all into it. But the Hufflepuff match came and went and still, no break up. She had, however, saved her team from _total_ misery but catching the snitch, thus losing by only ten points instead of one hundred and sixty.

And this is the way it went on, deciding to break up with him, and then getting _distracted._ Such as the day she decided to do it at lunch. But she became so involved as Harry told her about his terrible date with Cho...

"Well, at least you two are talking again. I mean, she could have frozen you out for the rest of your life. I told you not to go to Madam Puddifoot's, though. But do you listen? No. It's always a bad omen. Michael took me there once, I almost broke his nose." She smiled, trying to make him feel better.

"Yeah, you don't seem like the Madam Puddifoot's type, Gin." He commented.

"Why? Because I'm not giggling all the time with my posse of girls and I don't have a subscription to Witch Weekly?"

"Exactly. And that, Gin, is what makes you an awesome girl. I've got to go to class, have a good one!" He said cheerfully as he turned to leave, completely oblivious to bemused grin that had developed on Ginny's face upon his last comment. She felt her red hot face smirk, and looked down at her watch feeling suddenly confused. Wasn't there something she was supposed to be doing? What was it?

"_Oh, Sod it," _she smacked her forehead with her palm, "_Michael. Breaking up with Michael. Tomorrow. One more day won't hurt." _

Or then, a couple of days later, when she was completely ready to do it at breakfast, speech prepared and everything. She took a deep breath "_It's time," _stood up from the table, walked three steps in the direction of the Ravenclaw table, and was subsequently barreled down by none other than Dolores Umbridge. Spinning around to see what the stink was, she saw Umbridge hovering over Harry. And in Harry's hands was a copy of _The Quibbler _with his own face plastered right on the cover. She gasped in glee as she returned to the Gryffindor table without hesitation, "_Not** today!** Harry's interview is so much more important than Michael," _she thought as she scooted into the tight space between Hermione and Dean (brushing his leg dangerously in the process) in order to get the scoop. She had been ecstatic to read it ever since Hermione had told her about it a couple of weeks prior. Right there was the entire interview he had given, his complete account of what had happened when he met Voldemort face to face, printed for the whole wizarding world to read. Harry had endured months of painful slander from the Daily Prophet and the Ministry of Magic and now people were finally getting the truth! How could she even think about doing something so mundane as breaking up with her boyfriend when such a bigger thing had occurred?

And yet...surprise, surprise, another week passed. She brushed it off. The last, well, couple of months had been quite full with Quidditch and the things going on in the wizarding world, homework, and Umbridge that she just didn't have time for such things as breakups. Michael was rarely seen, however, as he was getting ready for O.W.L.S., so it actually felt like she didn't have a boyfriend to break up with in the first place, something she truly wished was true. But three days before Easter, he caught up with her in the hallway and gave her a peck on the cheek, thus renewing her need to break it off. She felt the sudden need to wash her cheek thoroughly after the interaction, which seemed like a bit of a bad sign.

Ginny sat in the common room late that night, the room close to deserted, thinking about how on Earth she could possibly do this. She'd waited too long. She knew that very well. She sat in her favorite chair and caught glimpse of Dean stretching exquisitely as his magnificent figure crossed the room to the boys dormitory. ("Night Gin! Don't stay up too late, don't want your sweet eyes drooping while I'm hexing you tomorrow.") That was it, the D.A. meeting. She had to break up with Michael at the next evening's D.A. meeting. After the meeting, she just had to pull him away and do it.

The next day snaked by as Ginny grimaced. She knew she couldn't back out of it again, she'd backed out of it at least twenty five times. Never had she wanted to go to a D.A. meeting less, but she sure was dreading it as she sat in her classes and watched the hours fly by at lightning speed. The tips of her fingers were almost raw from her nervous nail biting, and Hermione could tell something was wrong by the fact that Ginny hadn't said one word the entire day.

"What is it?" Hermione implored at the dinner table, taking a bit drink of her pumpkin juice, "Did you have a bad charm accident today? Something's off."

"Michael," Ginny whispered, hoping that if she didn't say it too loud, it wouldn't exist.

"...you're still with him? I thought you broke up with him months ago!"

"Yeah...about that. Nope," Ginny sighed, "I'm doing it tonight, though. I really am."

"You better. That's pretty low, Gin. He's a nice guy." Hermione affronted, tossing her hair behind her shoulder as she leaned in to obviously start scolding. Ginny put her hand up to Hermione's mouth to signal that talk time was over.

"He's an annoying bore. But he's so stuck in this dream Ginny Michael love bubble that he doesn't realize I haven't talked to him for two weeks."

"You better--"

"Mione, I'm doing it tonight. Witch's honor." Ginny said as she pushed back the bench rather forcefully, stalking away haughtily in order to go and change for the meeting, or flush herself down a toilet if she chickened out again, because that was the only way she was going to get out of it this time.

* * *

She arrived at the door to the Room of Requirement five minutes late. She threw the door open in haste and froze, eyes wide. Standing in front of the entry was a magnificent silver stag. She gasped lightly, as she felt her heart soar, it was truly the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. It blinked and pawed at the floor thoughtfully, turning its attention straight onto her as it came nearer, freezing her in its gaze. The shining silver eyes of the stag looked straight through her skin. She could almost feel it staring straight into her soul. Suddenly, a heavenly lightness take over her body, making her feel freer than she had for weeks while staring into the eyes of the vaporous animal. She didn't have any idea why, but the stag seemed to remove any ounce of pain that was inside of her. She could only feel love. She was in undeniably, magnificently, in love. 

"I think it likes you, Ginny!" cried a voice, pulling her slightly out of her trance. She turned to see Harry, wand up, smiling. Many members snickered, with the obvious exception of Michael, "That or it's trying to protect me from you."

"Probably the latter," She quipped lightly, her smiling widening as she realized what the stag was. And at that, the stag vanished. She jumped at its sudden departure and looked up, seeing the room disperse into their own spaces to practice. Still feeling full of light, she began to walk toward Harry, he smiled at her as she neared him.

"Harry..." but he never heard her. For a very attractive girl in the corner of the room by the name of Cho Chang called his name and without hesitation, he broke away. Ginny stood there, her bubble popping, suddenly feeling very foolish. She ran her hand through her long red hair shyly as she looked around the room. She had so many questions that were bubbling ferociously deep inside of her heart, questions she hadn't asked herself in years, though they had been there for as long as she could remember. Questions about that beautiful young man with the stag Patronus, the Patronus that captured her heart all over again. And yet again, in vain.

"What do you think your Patronus is, Ginny?" came a confident voice from behind her. She turned around slowly, coming back into the space. Dean was standing in front of her, he smiled at her.

"What?" she asked, the confusion apparent in her voice.

"I said, what do you think your Patronus is." He stated clearly, accentuating each syllable

"Oh, I don't know. I guess I've never really thought about it," she answered, running her hand through her long hair yet again as she saw Cho excitedly hug Harry out of the corner of her eye as a silver swan danced through the air. She sighed to herself, "_It's never going to happen. Let it go." _She felt the pain that the stag had taken from her return to her heart, grimacing, she pushed it down quickly behind it's familiar wall, barricading the ever present feelings from herself once again.

"Whatever it is, I bet it's really beautiful," Dean said quietly, leaning in closely to her and locking his deep brown eyes with hers.

"Um...thanks Dean," she smiled meekly as she stared into his eyes.

"Ginny!" She groaned outwardly and rolled her eyes, eliciting a laugh from Dean, as she turned around to see her boyfriend standing two feet away from Cho, looking very put off. Frustration bubbled inside of her as she walked over to Michael.

"Hi, darling!" He said with a weird turn of enthusiasm.

"What did you call me?"

"Darling, I always call you darling." Michael continued to talk at Ginny, but she wasn't listening. She struggled to push the last bit of pain and disappointment back down into the farthest recess of her heart. She felt the last drop go into its hiding place as she sighed, it scared her how good she had gotten at pushing pain away. Shaking her head slightly, she returned fully to the present and the room. The room was starting to fill with silver swips of light, and here and there the shadow of an animal would appear. Ginny, however, could perform nothing. No light shot from her wand. Lifting her wand in one last attempt, she looked around the room half heartedly, Michael was producing something almost resembling an animal, and she felt annoyance surge inside of her. A few feet away, Harry was instructing Cho a bit further, and at that she felt nothing. Well, it was similar to nothing--she felt a void. She quickly looked away and her eyes rested on Dean, he had a twinkling smile on his face as he forcefully cast quite a lovely bull from his wand. She felt a smile creep up to her face as he and Seamus hopped around recklessly in celebration of the patronus. Laughing slightly, she uttered the incantation and whipped her wand. Finally, while laughing at Dean, she saw the smallest wisp of silver string out of her wand.

But her smile wiped right off of her face as she saw the door fly open, emitting a small house elf. The elf ran straight to Harry, it's squeaking voice hard to decipher from where she was standing. But from the look on Harry's face, she knew something was terribly wrong. She didn't even wait for Harry to give the command, she was the first out the door.

She knew that this was a possibility, the D.A. getting found out, and she knew that she was going to hex whoever squealed into the next year. Her heart pounded as she tore out the door and halted, considering her plan of attack to get back to Gryffindor tower. She made a hasty right and began to run with everything she had. She heard the scared voices of the rest of the group behind her as she sped away. Quickly, however, they began to grow fainter. Assuming that they turned the opposite way, she quickly trod up the first flight of stairs she found. The paintings all around her were whispering loudly, a few of them cheering her race on, a few chastising her for disturbing their evening. She wheeled a quick, suddenly realizing that she was in a corridor that she wasn't very familiar with. She stopped abruptly, looking around the dimly lit corridor. Deciding that running anywhere was better than hiding, she set out again, only to have the hallway filled with voices. These voices, however, had a menacing tone. She panicked as she ran faster, her red hair flying recklessly out of its ponytail, a stitch developing in her side. The voices became louder as she neared a down flight of stairs. She shot down it like a bludger, three steps at a time. Her shoes slid dangerously on the stone as she tripped over the last two stairs, splaying herself on the landing. She cursed under her breath as a shooting pain flew through her ankle. Frozen in shock of her fall, she heard the voices getting louder, and footsteps flying up a close stairway next to her. Before she could even look up, a strong pair of hands seized her, pulled her recklessly backward, and suddenly she was swallowed up by complete darkness.

"Flatten yourself against the wall or else we'll be seen," whispered a familiar voice as the arms propped her up to standing. She did as she was told just in time as she heard three sets of footsteps fly down the stairs and shoot right past them.

"Thank you," she breathed, letting out the breath she had held when she heard the footsteps nearing, trying to control her panting breaths eliciting from her sprint.

"Are you hurt?" said the voice.

"I think I sprained my ankle, but I'm--" she couldn't finish her sentence as the form next to her bent down to her feet.

"This one?" it asked, grabbing her right foot.

"No, the other." and without hesitation, she heard the voice breathe 'episkey' and suddenly a hot pained seared through her ankle. She grimaced, and it was quickly replaced by an icy sensation, but just as quickly it disappeared. The form next to her rose back up to standing as she rolled her ankle around, good as new, "Thank you."

"No problem, I've been practicing the charm a lot for O.W.L.S., it's nice to do it to someone else instead of constantly breaking my own fingers to heal them," the voice let out a small laugh.

"You don't do that, do you?" she asked, slightly alarmed.

"Aw, well, I did once, but, yeah, I wouldn't do that again."

"I should hope not," she said, a scolding tone apparent in her voice. She stood with the unknown person for quite some time in silence, breath returning back to normal.

"Ginny?" asked the voice.

"Uh, yeah?"

"Do, uh, do you want to go to Hogsmeade with me after Easter?" her heart dropped, either she standing next to Michael (and thus would have to break up with him directly after he saved her and fixed her ankle), or she was going to have to turn someone down as she YET AGAIN had been thwarted into not breaking up with Michael. She fully doubted that the boy standing next to her was Michael, however. The prospect of him knowing a flawless healing charm was dim.

"Um..that would depend on who I'm hiding behind a tapestry with," she said slowly.

"Ginny, it's Dean."

"O--OH!" she blanched. Why, WHY hadn't she broken up with Michael already? But then again, the next Hogsmeade weekend was quite far away, she could definitely break up with him in time for sure, "Um...Dean. I would love to go to Hogsmeade with you but--mm!--" she never got those final words out though as Dean's hot mouth covered hers, kissing her deeply without hesitation. The blood in her veins began to boil as he deepened the kiss like she'd never experienced. There was no way she was pulling out of this kiss. His timing was terrible in every sense of the words, but she could definitely agree with his sentiment. His hands grasped her waist tightly as she tentatively felt her fingers snake up through his coarse hair. She guiltily continued like this for a bit longer before finally finding the strength to pull away, "Dean, um...there's just one thing."

"What's that?" he asked as he slid his lips across her jaw line menacingly, taunting her with light flicks of his tongue. His teeth lightly caught the lobe of her ear, emitting from her a moan like she had never heard from her body.

"Yeah, um... a boyfriend... I, er, have one, mmm...no, but...it's okay. I'll...mmmm!...I'll take care of that. Not important..." and she dove right back into the hot kiss.


	23. Helping and Hindering

"What!?" Ginny shrieked in surprise. The news that was flying into the Gryffindor common room was staggering, and it was making her feel immensely guilty. While she had been hiding behind a tapestry snogging a guy who wasn't even her boyfriend, Harry had been caught and no one knew where he was. How could she have been so irresponsible?

The common room was filled with people who had successfully escaped the 'D.A. attack'. Hermione was nursing two third year girls who had been hit side long with hexes. Lavender Brown was crying in the corner for some reason. Ron stared at the portrait hole with a look of death on his face and her twin brothers were huddled together, frantically talking through possible schemes to save Harry if it was necessary. Seamus was drilling Dean about where he'd ended up, eliciting an odd and disjointed story from Dean about some sort of armor and the astronomy tower. Ginny had made Dean swear to keep mum until she had the chance to _finally _break it off with Michael, and obviously, Dean wasn't all that good of a liar.

No one could really explain what had happened in the frenzy of escape, but people were sure that they had seen Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle, and others, along with Umbridge and Filch. Someone had even been tripped by Mrs. Norris, Filch's cat.

No one was looking like they were going to budge from the common room until Harry had returned. After what felt like an eternity, she heard the portrait hole open slowly. Every eye in the room shot to Harry as he entered, the look on his face mutinous. The room erupted suddenly with voices as the room crowded in around Harry. Harry's eyes were glazed and his fists clenched.

"Leave him alone!" Ginny shouted at the mob as she jumped up from her chair and barreled through the crowd, grabbing Harry's hand instinctively. Hermione following her lead by grabbing Harry's other arm.

The two girls led him through the crowd and straight up to his dorm room, followed closely by Ron. Once inside, Hermione charmed the door locked as Harry collapsed to sit on his bed, his body rigid as the door. Ginny went to the window sill and poured him a glass of water from the jug. She sat next to him on the bed and lightly forced the glass into his hand as Hermione sat on his other side. They sat in silence for a moment as Harry drank his water.

"Dumbledore's gone." He said plainly as he set the glass by his foot.

"What!?" the room erupted with questions. Harry held his hand up and looked from Hermione to Ginny slowly, "They got the information from Marietta," (To which Hermione responded with a 'harumph'. She had never trusted Cho's best friend.) "They brought me in to expel me, Fudge was there, and Kingsley."

"Whoa. Big time crime," Ron attempted to joke, it wasn't received well.

"Yeah, your brother was there too. Taking dictation, the prat. Anyway, they were going to expel me but I was denying everything. It was cool though because Kingsley was modifying Marietta's memory under his breath while they asked her questions, so she didn't have answers anymore. I thought Umbridge was going to smack her. So I thought we might get out of this, until," he looked seriously at Ginny, then Hermione, then with a voice of admission, said quietly, "she found the list."

"What list?" Ron asked as Hermione gasped, turning terribly green.

"Dumbledore's Army..." Hermione whispered to herself, causing Ginny's stomach to sink with realization. Posted in their Room of Requirement was a complete list of all D.A. members, titled plainly at the top with 'Dumbledore's Army', a name Ginny herself had come up with.

"Dumbledore just...he just took the blame. Told them all that he had enlisted us to train for _his army," _He two girls mouthed horrified "no"s as he continued, "Fudge was ecstatic, it was disgusting. They tried to arrest him, but the Dumbledore knocked the entire room out with hexes and then somehow Fawkes made him disappear. Dumbledore just grabbed onto his tail and he was gone. That part was pretty incredible. But, yeah. He's gone," he stated quietly, staring at his feet.

"Does that mean--"

"That Umbridge is taking over? Yep," he nodded numbly.

"Oh, Merlin," Hermione muttered. "What!?" Ron screeched.

"Harry, are you okay?" Ginny asked him quietly as the other two stared off in shock. He nodded, but she could see his fist clench harder. He was doing everything he could not to punch a wall. "Do you mind if I go and tell everyone what happened, they've really been wanting to know. That way you won't have to. You can just stay up here and relax."

"That'd be great, Gin. Thanks." She nodded as she touched his shoulder, pulling her hand away quickly as he tensed up against it, and exited the dorm.

The next day brought a drop in the morale of Hogwarts like Ginny could have only imagined. Filch was walking around like a king, as were the Slytherins (though there wasn't much new there). Other than that, the only two people in the school with any happiness at all seemed to be Fred and George. But it was obvious to Ginny, as she had watched them her entire life, that their fun was building solely out of a need to enact revenge, whatever it may have been.

Rumours were flying everywhere in the wake of Dumbledore's 'dismissal' and the appointment of Umbridge as Headmistress. Everything from Hogsmeade trips being canceled (which turned out to be true), to all of the teachers being sacked and replaced by ministry officials. She actually heard two second years saying that they had heard that Filch was going to be appointed as the new Transfiguration teacher, and Mrs. Norris to Divination.

Ginny found herself disgruntledly eating her lunch in the Great Hall next to Hermione the next day. Dean glanced at her and quickly darted his eyes away. He had been somewhat avoiding her all day since the unintentional snog fest and she knew why as she glanced to the Ravenclaw table. She sighed as she remembered her predicament. The news of the prior night had been so crazy that it just hadn't been on the forefront of her mind. Hermione, catching Ginny's glance, nudged her forcefully, intent on making her act, though oblivious to the new wrench that had been thrown into the situation--Dean. In a silent battle of wits, the girls narrowed their eyes at each other until Ginny finally grimaced and stood up. She took one last deep breath and began to make her way over to the Ravenclaw table. Michael was sitting and talking animatedly with none other than Cho Chang. Michael seemed to have said something very funny as Cho fell into a fit of giggles right as Ginny rounded onto the couple. Michael looked up in surprise.

"Hi." He said with a slight bit of shock. Ginny did admit, she hadn't visited the Ravenclaw table for quite some time.

"Hey, Michael. Um..." she bit her lip, "Can I talk to you...er...over there?" she added, catching an oddly suspicious eye from Cho.

"Uh, yeah," He said after a bit of hesitation. He began to stand up but never got to his feet.

Every entry way of the Great Hall burst open at that moment, emitting an indoor fireworks show unlike anything Ginny had ever seen. Colors and shapes filled the room. A massive Dragon's head shot toward the spot where she stood, making her scatter without thought, praising without question the genius of her two brothers who were undoubtedly responsible for this light show. She quickly ducked under the nearest table to get away from a bright purple Catherine wheel, and waited it out until the show had died down a bit. She laughed, seeing glimpses of fireworks through the windows of the Great Hall out on the grounds. This was definitely not going to be easy to clean up. When she deemed it safe to come out of hiding, Michael was gone. She cursed to herself, thwarted again. Hermione was going to kill her.

The day dragged on with no chance of speaking with Michael, as did the next day. Her confidence on the matter was slipping just as quickly as the Gryffindor house points now that Umbridge was in charge. The large hourglass that held the house points was dangerously close to empty she noticed with a sigh that evening as she sped through the entrance hall on her way out to Quidditch practice. But what really got her attention was the two people standing next to it. She stopped on the steps and curiously watched. Harry and Cho were having a conversation that was quickly developing into a definite row. Ginny was too far away to hear what they were fighting about, but it was apparent that both of them had most likely insulted the other, and were continuing to. It wasn't until Cho threw her hands up in the air and stalked away in Ginny's direction that Ginny decided it was time to move on. She shook her head as she began to cross toward the main doors of the castle, watching Harry stomp away, apparently livid.

Ginny didn't get a chance over the Easter weekend to find out from Hermione what had happened between Harry and Cho, nor did she get a chance for anything. Instead, she had spent the entire holiday on the Quidditch pitch. The season closer with Ravenclaw was right around the corner and they had a (far reaching) chance of still winning the Quidditch cup, meaning her life was once again filled with maniacal nightly practices.

Upon entering the common room after the final practice of the holiday, she saw Hermione bundled up on her favorite chair, littered in books. Ginny smiled at her overly studious friend as she neared her. Hermione almost jumped.

"Don't sneak up on me like that! What are you doing back so early? Where's Ron?" she asked, retrieving a fallen book from the floor.

"He's in the hospital wing," Hermione's eyes grew wide, "Oh, he's fine. He had to take the beater up there. Practice doesn't go too well after the beater confuses his own _head _for a bludger."

"Ooooh..." Hermione winced slightly, holding back a laugh, "Hey, will you do me a favor?"

"Er...what is it?"

"Your brothers just dropped this off with me. It's Easter eggs from your mum. First- look at the stamp," She said, handing the box to Ginny.

Ginny stared at it and shook her head, "Inspected and passed by the Hogwarts High Inquisitor." She put the box back down, "That's messed up."

"Isn't it? Listen, I've got Ron's egg here for when he comes back and that just leaves two in the box. Could you take Harry's to him? He's been a right prat to us for the last few days and I thought _maybe _you could cheer him up. Make him feel better."

Ginny looked at Hermione oddly, "What's wrong with him, is it Cho?"

"Well, I'm sure that's part of it. I hear they got into a nasty row the other day."

"Yeah, I saw it."

"But there's other stuff too. Just cheer him up, you know? He's in the library." Hermione smiled at Ginny.

"Er...alright." Ginny said as she stood up warily, box in hand. She made her way to the library, slightly hesitant. If he was being a prat to Ron and Hermione, she really didn't want to deal with his moods. She entered the quiet library to find Harry alone at a table, deep in a book. Sidling up next to him, she sat down and set the box on the table. He didn't even budge. His hair was extra messy and his face was strained, but he was completely unaware of her presence.

"Harry?" she asked meekly, feeling guilty for interrupting him, "Harry." He looked up in surprise. She smiled shyly at him, pushing back a wisp of her red hair that had fallen out of her pony tail. She could tell that he was troubled, but what she really noticed in his eyes was that he wasn't annoyed by her presence. She breathed a sigh of relief as she held out the easter egg for him, almost like a peace treaty, joking with him about the 'High Inquisitor' inspection the box had gone through.

Upon handing the egg to him, she noticed something strange happen. His eyes, that had been focused on her's, suddenly darted away in avoidance. Though he was obviously trying to hide it, his eyes were starting to shine and he began blinking with fervor. Ginny naturally pulled her chair a bit closer to his and leaned in, imploring him quietly. Asking him what was wrong and laying her hand on his forearm lightly, causing his huge shining green eyes to dart the other way. She sighed as he continued to avoid her, he looked quite distraught for reasons completely beyond Ginny, this couldn't have been brought on by Cho, could it have? Or at least, she hoped not.

She leaned in closely. The piercing gaze of her eyes seemed to register with him as he finally looked up at her. And without hesitation, she tried to penetrate his thoughts, asking first about Cho. She noted a hint of laughter in his eyes as he dismissed the idea, Cho definitely not being his problem. He almost looked as though her question had seemed preposterous. Smiling a little, laughing a little, relieved a little, she implored further.

The answer she got intrigued her. He looked up into her eyes, his composure regained, and told her with longing how much he needed to speak to Sirius. Pushing back her hair again, she leaned on the table in thought, never taking her eyes off of Harry, staring at him with a calculating look. How to talk to Sirius? Harry had thought through it all, she was sure, as owl post and the floo network were obviously being watched. She broke off a piece of her own easter egg as she thought, pausing only for a second to relish in how good her mother's chocolate was. With a stroke of sweet inspiration, she smiled at him and she could feel her eyes twinkling, causing the strained lines on his face to soften. She had no idea how to get in touch with Sirius...but she definitely knew who would.

She caught a hint of a sparkle in Harry's eye just as a shrill voice from the opposite of the library interrupted them. Looking up, her eyes widened as Madam Pince stormed over, wagging her finger viciously. Cursing, she grabbed her chocolate and the two of them made a mad dash for the exit, Harry's belongings flying out of the room behind them by the force of Pince's wand. One quite heavy book bashed Ginny in the back of the skull as she made her way through the door.

"Ouch!" she yelped, holding her head as she leaned against the wall catching her breath two corridors down, far away from where the altercation had taken place. Harry was panting next to her, a small laugh emitting from him.

"I needed that," he said. She could hear a smile gracing his face as she looked up at him, "You didn't need that though," he said, looking slightly guilty, "Um..is your head okay?"

"Er...I'll live," she laughed, wincing as he touched the bump that was rising on the crown of her skull, "I think that hurt worse than a bludger, though." She looked around the corridor. Most of Harry's belongings had seemed to follow them. Ink bottles laid broken on the stone, his bag was ripped, and sheets of parchment were littered everywhere, "I'm so sorry. I completely caused this."

"That was the most fun I'd had in a week, don't you dare apologize!" Harry quipped as he lent down to pick up his belongings.

"Well then, sir, you are quite welcome," She smiled, going down on her hands and knees to help him. As she charmed an ink bottle back together, her eyes swiped over to Harry, "So, you need to talk to Sirius, huh?"

"It's completely hopeless though, Gin." He said, as he charmed excess ink off of his bag. She crawled on her knees over to where he was sitting, holding out the good as new ink bottle, "Thanks," he said, putting it back into his repaired bag.

"You haven't by chance talked to my brothers about this, have you?"

"Er...no."

"Aah, big mistake there. If _anyone_ can get you in touch with Sirius, you know it'll be Fred and George. Just think about it. I can talk to them about it if you'd like."

Harry looked at her, a small smirk playing on his lips, "You might have a point."

"Of course I do," She said as she stood up, holding out her hand to Harry, "I have learned a few things in the fourteen years they've been in my life."

Harry took her hand as she pulled him up off of the cold stone floor and they began their walk back to the common room.

"Sorry if I'm nosy, but just why do you need to talk to Sirius? Dumbledore or girl problems?" she smiled at him teasingly, "Because, you know, he probably knows a great deal about both."

He laughed, "Neither actually, it's got to do with...well, it's got to do with my dad," and at that his demeanor changed drastically, and Ginny knew not to press the subject further, "By the way," he said, his tone carefree again, "you better watch out for Cho, I've seen her getting very chummy with Michael Corner."

Ginny stopped in her tracks as her eyes lit up, "Reeeally? Do tell."

"Oh, I'm over it. I've just seen them more than once, and she was looking at him with her teary, batty eyes. She's irked me a few too many times though. Give her hell in the Ravenclaw match."

"Upon you order, Mr. Harry Potter, I will catch that snitch before her if it's the last thing I do. And maybe I won't have to do the breaking up after all!" Ginny added to herself, bouncing with a little bit of glee.

Harry's eyes narrowed on her, "You're _happy _about this?"

She laughed out loud, "I've been trying to dump that dead weight for two months now. But the fates have been working against me."

Ginny turned out to be right about one thing, Fred and George certainly did know how to help Harry, even if it involved them quitting school to do it. As Harry got to talk to Sirius in Umbridge's fireplace, Fred and George staged a scene unlike anything Hogwarts had ever seen. Ginny was in the front of the crowd as she watched her brothers conjure an entire swamp right in the middle of the entrance hall. She got to watch first hand as Umbridge trotted to the scene, and she waved in glee as her brothers summoned their contraband brooms and flew off into the sunset, leaving Hogwarts for good. It was BRILLIANT. Though she knew her mother was going to eat her foot when she found out.

After Fred and George's stunt, the rest of the week seemed to be a party. A secret party, but none the less. Dissent was rampant around the castle, and trouble was being caused everywhere. Filch and Umbridge couldn't keep up. Saturday rolled around jovially as she made her way down to the Quidditch pitch. She skipped into the locker room, readying herself to make good on her promise to Harry, to give Cho as much hell as possible up in the air. Tossing on her Quidditch robes and her war face, patting her sickly looking keeper brother on the back, she exited the locker room.

The team had actually been having some great practices in the last few days, leaving her with good nerves instead of a stomach full of dread. Madam Hooch blew her whistle and the teams were up in the air. Ginny kept her gaze on Cho, the stupid girl's shiny black plait of hair flying in the breeze. Scooting her broom ever so close to the opposing seeker, she suddenly sprinted upwards, causing Cho to follow. Ginny maneuvered her Cleansweep with ease, going through all of her favorite moves, tiring Cho out as she followed. And suddenly, Ginny stopped, causing Cho to stop. Floating only a few feet from each other, the seekers eyed the field for quite some time. Every once in a while, Ginny would shoot off, Cho following, only to stop dead. Ginny kept this cat and mouse act up for a good long time, until finally Cho began to act as Ginny had hoped, and she stopped following her. Every time Ginny finished with a feinted maneuver, she would return right next to Cho.

She took a second out of her deception to listen to the score, and her mouth dropped. Somehow Gryffindor was head by fifty points. And the scores were high. Smiling, she sat back on her broom and scanned the skies below and above her, and suddenly she eyed the snitch...one foot above Cho's head. She knew what she was about to do was low, but there was no other way. Slowly, she turned her attention to Cho and glided toward the other girl. "Cho?" Ginny said, in a naturally nice voice, her heart beating faster and faster as she forced her eyes not to give her away by looking at the snitch.

"Er...yeah?" Cho said, looking slightly confused.

"I think you've got something in your hair," and Ginny was just close enough to reach...just a little bit above the girls hair. Grabbing the snitch casually above the head of the clueless seeker, she smiled broadly, holding up the snitch to Cho's face. "Just a snitch," She said with sugary sweetness as she suddenly darted her broom away, waving the snitch in her hand triumphantly, surprising everyone in the stands. She landed and was immersed instantly in a dog pile of Gryffindor teammates. For they had not only won the game, they had just squeezed by to win the Quidditch Cup. A party erupted on the field as Ginny was hoisted onto the shoulders of Dean and Seamus. Her head above the crowd, she could see the Ravenclaw team. Two of them were comforting Cho as she sat on the sidelines and cried. Ginny sniggered, feeling only slightly guilty. As the party wound down and people began to file back up to the castle, a hand grabbed her arm. She spun around to see Michael standing there, and he was not looking happy.

"What was that all about?" he asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Oh that? That was me winning the game," she smiled at him coldly, sensing he was not happy with the outcome.

"Well--Well...that was really bad sportsmanship, tricking Cho like that. I heard what you did."

"Oh you did, did you? I bet you were the first over there to comfort the poor defenseless girl while she cried like a baby about losing? Michael, leave me alone. I think you're a sulking prat and I don't want to date you anymore. So just go back and comfort poor Cho."

Michael's eyes narrowed on her as he bellowed, "Maybe I will!" and he stomped away, thoroughly resembling a five year old.

_"Well that was easy," _Ginny thought as she shrugged. She turned around to walk again, but her arm was once again tugged, "Michael, I told you--oh, Dean!" her face shot red instantly.

"Sorry, I just, saw that...and...um," he was looking incredibly sheepish, a cute look for such a confident guy, "Does that mean I can give you a victory kiss without being hexed by anyone?"

She smiled, pulling him in, "As long as you don't give me a victory kiss in front of my brother, I think you'll be safe."

And quite the victory kiss it was. It was a good day.


	24. Rising Action

"That was pretty harsh, Gin." Hermione touted as they sat together late that evening. The party in the common room was just starting to draw to a close. Ginny had been forced to catch Hermione up on the Michael subject when she had caught the red head cuddling with a corner with a certain Gryffindor. "I mean, wern't you a bit of a hypocrite?"

Ginny sighed, she knew very well that she'd been a hypocrite. Maybe she would have been entitled to some of her actions and words against Michael and Cho if she hadn't secretly snogged Dean the week before, but it had still irked her. It drove her crazy to admit it since she hadn't even realized it in the first place, but whether or not she had wanted to be with Michael, she had still been stung a bit by the news that Cho had swooped in on her boyfriend. Slouching back into the couch, she looked at Hermione, "I was just so caught up in winning the match, that I didn't even think about breaking up with him when I did it. Should I apologize to him?"

"Maybe you should," Hermione nodded, "Even if you don't feel terrible now, you might later."

"No, you've succeeded in making me feel pretty bad about it," Ginny said, winking at Hermione.

The next morning, flanked by a motherly Hermione, she marched down to breakfast, trying in vain to swallow her pride. Upon entering the Great Hall she spotted them, Michael and Cho, cuddling right over their oatmeal. She heard Hermione let out a faint snort.

"Well...doesn't look like you scarred him too badly, I guess," Hermione said quietly as they made their way to the Gryffindor table.

"Yeah, I'm not sure it's a good time to...er...interrupt," Ginny said, shaking off an odd feeling that had bubbled up in her. It wasn't jealousy, she could tell that, but it was just odd, seeing her ex boyfriend with another girl. The weird thing was that she had no clue where the feeling had come from. She was terribly relieved that she had finally broken it off, she had moved directly on, but still, she had a weird feeling about it.

"It's just something new to get used to, Gin. Give it an afternoon."

She nodded, knowing that Hermione was right.

Over the next few weeks with the combination of Quidditch being done for the year, the D.A. meetings being non-existent, and the fact that all of her closest friends were in O.W.L.S. world, she found herself quite lonely.

She started to realize for the first time, after her fourth night of sitting alone in the common room, that during the year she had succeeded in alienating all of her fourth year friends. The Ravenclaw girls had definitely been cold to her over the past few months since things had begun to go sour with Michael. And the further she was away from the Michael situation, the more she realized that she had been totally to blame. The ordeal could have been solved completely if Ginny had just respected Michael enough to break it off when she had wanted to in the first place. It had, however, turned into a two month avoidance fest that he hadn't deserved one bit. She'd been a right prat. Avoiding him, taking out her frustration about avoiding him by hexing him in the D.A., Cheating on him (only once, but still). She'd been completely careless. She shook her head slightly as guilt built up inside of her. Guilt, that's what she felt, she felt terribly and undeniably guilty. She gulped as she realized that she wasn't sure how or when, but she knew that she definitely needed to apologize to Michael. Glancing around the room, she caught Dean's eye as he smiled at her. Whatever she did, however her relationship with this new boy turned out, she wasn't going to do that to him.

* * *

She entered Transfiguration that day and took her usual seat. Ever since first year she had chosen the exact same seat in the class room, the desk in the fourth row on the far left. And even if she hadn't noticed until the end of her second year, Luna Lovegood had always taken the one next to her. On this day, Luna was passing the time before class by charming butterbeer caps onto her thick belt with permanent sticking charms. 

"Hey Luna, where did you get all of those?" Ginny asked as she looked at the heaping bag of caps sitting next to Luna's foot.

"Oh, these?" Luna smiled, looking up from her work, "I asked the house elves to save them for me. They really are such nice creatures. I stopped down there yesterday to get them and they handed me three of these bags. They said they got most of them from your common room. You Gryffindors shouldn't drink so much, it makes you terribly prone to whackspurts. Congratulations by the way. It really was a good win."

"Umm...thank you. I think you're the first Ravenclaw not to try to hex me," Ginny joked as Luna smiled bemusedly, going back to her belt.

"I'm thinking of making a shirt next. Would you like one? I think I'll have enough caps." Luna asked, making Ginny giggle.

"Umm...I don't know. I'll take a bracelet though?" she shrugged as Luna's eyes lit up slightly.

"That sounds wonderful. It will be nice with your skin tone," Luna said as she immediately abandoned her belt and started work on a bracelet. Ginny smiled and laughed to herself at the idea of bottle caps complimenting her skin. At that moment Professor McGonagall entered the room swiftly, causing Luna to tuck her creations away in their sack. The lesson for the day was work further on switching spells. McGonagall passed out a pair of nail clippers and a small rabbit to each set of desks, ensuring that Luna and Ginny would be partnering for the day. The aim was to switch the teeth of the rabbit and the blade of the nail clippers. After many entertainingly wrong switches (where once the teeth of the rabbit ended on the behind of the rabbit), the girls succeeded. Packing up for the day, Luna stopped Ginny, handing her her very own butterbeer bracelet.

"Thanks Luna." Ginny said, putting it on.

"I knew it would look perfect. Shall we go down to dinner? This room is so full of nargles I can't quite stand it anymore."

"Can you sense them, Luna?" Ginny asked, a slight bit of teasing in her voice.

"Of course I can, can't you?"

"Er...I'm working on it." Ginny smiled. Odd friend or not, she definitely had someone interesting to talk to.

Luna and Ginny began spending more and more time together over the next couple of weeks, serving as study partners for their final exams at one of the few library tables that wasn't taken up by fifth or seventh year students. Once O.W.L.S. had begun the mood in castle changed, especially in the library where the girls were having their nightly meetings, something Ginny had really started to look forward to in her day. Ginny had always liked Luna, but she had never really noticed how fun Luna was to be around. Luna was a much better study partner than slave driver Hermione, and when the girls got bored they sat back and giggled about how the fifth years looked like death. Pansy Parkinson was exuding signs of being a well dressed hag, and her own brother was bearing features of an angry troll the more he sat staring at his books. Deciding one night that they had worked enough for the last exam, which was Transfiguration the next day, she said a quick goodnight to her eccentric blonde friend and began to make her way to the Gryffindor common room from the library. She heard quick footsteps behind her and smiled at Dean as he jogged up to her. He looked terrible.

"You are most definitely overworking yourself," she said as he caught up to her. Large bags floated under his eyes and his shoulders looked as though they were hunched from constant studying.

"You know what would make me feel better?" he teased, smoothly slipping Ginny's backpack off of her shoulder and throwing it over his own, catching a scolding eye from Ginny.

"Sleep, I think. Sorry, that's the answer I'm sticking with," she stated with a smile as he frowned, "You ready?"

"Yeah, I think so. History of Magic and Astronomy are my only ones left. I'm horrific at Astronomy though, I much prefer going to the Astronomy tower for other reasons."

"Uh-huh, isn't that tonight?" she asked, smirking as she changed the subject. She enjoyed snogging as much as the next girl, but the rate at which Dean brought it up and dropped hints was alarming.

"Er...yeah," he said, thinking she had missed his meaning. She hadn't. They walked in silence for awhile. "So...uh...how are your studies going?"

"Fine, I guess. I guess I'm a bit worried about potions, but that's about it."

"Potions? But potions is easy, you've got all of the instructions right in front of you," he said.

"You're cute when your condescending," Ginny quipped as they reached the portrait hole, Dean smiling regally and bowing out of the way for Ginny to enter first. Ginny rolled her eyes as she entered the buzzing room, filled with students cramming last minute for their Astronomy O.W.L.. "Good luck," she said, kissing Dean goodnight on the cheek (much to his dismay), "I'll keep my fingers crossed for you," she smiled at him one last time as she made her way up to her room to fall into a lovely 'I'm not taking my O.W.L.S. this year' sleep.

Her bed felt amazing, exam week was stressful for everyone, and she definitely included herself in that. Closing her heavy lids, she went over the major transfiguration points she had studied as she faded off to sleep.

**BANG**!

Ginny was shocked out of her lovely sleep with a jolt, rolling right onto the floor. Shaking the remaining sleep from her head, she tried to figure out what had awoken her. She looked around the dark room as her eyes adjusted, nothing. Quizzically, she ran a hand through her hair and began to climb back into bed, when she suddenly could swear she heard distant yells. She took a peek out of her window, but nothing was visible. But now that she had heard the yells, she couldn't tune them out.

Frowning, she stuffed her feet into her slippers and quietly left the dorm, slinking down to the common room. The room was deserted. She made her way to a window facing out of the other side of the tower, and that's where she saw it. Four red spells shot directly at a cloaked figure, causing the figure to fly high in the air, and land on it's back. Suddenly a massive man began throwing the people from whom the stunners had been sent.

"So that's Hagrid. Then who was stunned?" She said to herself, her eyes widening further as she watched a body get thrown a good fifteen feet. Pulling her body up into the window sill, she tried to watch closer with increasing anxiety, quickly making out the squat form of a person who could only be Umbridge. Confusion and fear ran through her as she watched Hagrid run to the gates of the grounds. She stayed glued in disbelief to the window, fearing that if she had been the only person to see this, that absolutely no one would believe her.

Suddenly, the portrait hole flew open, emitting loud voices and sobs.

"Did you see that?" Ginny asked, jumping from the sill and running to Hermione. Hermione's livid face gave her away before she said a word. "Who got stunned?"

"McGonagall," Harry said flat out, ruffling his hair nervously. Ginny's mouth hit the floor.

"What?" she whispered. That was something she definitely hadn't expected. Hermione hurriedly recounted everything they had seen, causing Ginny's mouth to gape even wider. She was at a loss. None of it really made any sense at all. Ambushing Hagrid in the middle of the night? Someone having the need to send four stunners at McGonagall? This was a school, not a war zone, Ginny thought as she sat quietly with Hermione.

"To do that to Hagrid and McGonagall. What is wrong with her to think that is necessary?I could just--" Hermione growled until she could no longer produce words, the redness in her cheeks ceasing to desist.

The next day the school was buzzing with the news about what had happened. But this buzzing wasn't an excited one, dread and fear had started to fill the school fully. Ginny could notice it easily, they had lost Dumbledore, Hagrid, and McGonagall, the three people who were the most important in shielding the students from Umbridge. At lunch Ginny waved Luna over to the Gryffindor table, the girl walking over hesitantly.

"Um...is it allowed for me to sit here?" she asked in a tone very unlike Luna.

"Sure, I used to sit at the Ravenclaw table all the time. I promise you, the bench won't buck you off it you sit on it."

Luna slid herself onto the bench at the Gryffindor table, looking back and forth through the room, "Hm. Interesting view from here."

"Yeah, we like it that way. Luna, you don't think Umbridge is going to be administering our Transfiguration exam, do you?"

"No, I think it will be Professor Snape," Luna said, still checking out the view from the Gryffindor table, "Is that what we look like? hmm."

Luna's prediction had definitely been correct, the girls entered the Transfiguration classroom to find the very morose looking Snape sitting at McGonagall's desk. "Good afternoon, Professor Snape," Luna chirped as she took her seat. Ginny sniggered to herself. The picture of Snape even being in the same room with someone like Luna was entertaining, but seeing her talk to him was like watching a butterfly dance in front of a vampire.

Even with Snape breathing down their necks, the exam wasn't all that terrible. Ginny found herself so distracted by what she had seen the night before that the answers seemed to come like magic. As the girls left the exam room, Luna smiled at Ginny, "Thanks for studying with me. You make tests much more fun."

"Thanks. You do too," Ginny said, slightly taken aback by the compliment.

The girls walked down the corridor in silence, "Did you hear that?" Luna asked confusedly, shaking her head.

"Hear what?" Ginny looked as her, narrowing her eyes.

Luna shook her head again, then hit one side of her head with the palm of her hand a couple of time, and continued to shake, "Nope, definitely a real voice, come on," and with that she grabbed Ginny's arm. Before long, Ginny could hear it, too, "Is that Harry? He sure does yell loudly," Luna said.

Ginny listened, it was definitely Harry, and she didn't have to think twice, something was definitely wrong.


	25. The Plan, Bat Bogey Style

Without a thought she hurried straight toward his booming voice, Luna close on her heels. The voice was coming from the end of the corridor, distorted by the echoing stone of the passage way. Her heart began to race faster for a reason she couldn't understand as she came to stop directly outside of a door to her right, the loud booming voice of Harry obviously behind it. Ginny quickly glanced at Luna. The wide eyed girl shrugged slightly as Ginny swooped her hair behind her shoulder and reached for the doorknob. Tentatively, she nudged it open, cursing as the door emitted a terribly loud creak. The yelling immediately stopped.

She was caught. Knowing there was nothing else to do, she timidly stuck her head through the opening. Any instinct of foreboding that she got from hearing his voice booming down the corridor was cemented as she saw the panicked look on his face. And quickly, almost imperceptibly, the panic turned to anger from their interruption. He stared at her with unfamiliar loathing as he barked at her and Luna not to bother them. Hermione clutched onto Harry's arm, it seemed like she was trying her best to reason with him. Hermione caught Ginny's eye and beckoned her. Swallowing hard, Ginny walked further into the room, listening intently to Hermione as she stumbled a plan of some sort out to Harry.

Ginny's brain started to work overtime as she put the shocking sentences together. Sirius ---tortured---Voldemort---Now---her heart dropped into the pit of her stomach as she gulped, glancing in shock and confusion quickly at her brother, Ron, who had also been in the room. His eyes were wide, and he looked almost as lost as she felt. It was only when her own name was spoken that she came out of her head.

"Yeah. We'll do it," Ginny spoke quickly, intently, not knowing what she had volunteered for, but not caring. She would do anything to remedy whatever situation included 'Sirius---tortured---Voldemort--'. Upon her volunteering, Harry ever so quickly glanced at her, his anger subsiding in his eyes for the slightest second as he looked at Ginny, like a split second breath of fresh air before the panic took him over once again.

"Okay then-" She heard Hermione say. And thus a plan was hatched.

Everything was very surreal as Hermione went over the plan one last time in the absence of Harry. He had run off to get his Invisibility Cloak, a detail that Ginny would have been very intrigued by if it wern't for the fact that they were essentially in a life or death situation. Heading off Umbridge to use her fireplace was pretty crazy indeed. The plan was as such. Ron was going to create a diversion, taking Umbridge away from her office. Ginny and Luna were going to clear the hallway around her office by telling the students that Garrotting Gas was filling the hallway, and Hermione and Harry were going to invisibly slip into Umbridge's office, floo Grimmauld Place, and see if Sirius was there.

The plan was going swimmingly. At least her end of it. Students continually attempted filing around her, but her convincing and annoyed story of the Garroting Gas caught on quickly, clearing the hallway out with ease. It wasn't until the students were gone that she started to feel that biting sense of panic rock her gut. Rocking back and forth on her heels, twirling her hair in her finger, she bit her lip nervously. Was Sirius really being tortured by Voldemort? What was anyone going to do about it? Where was Umbridge and what was taking Harry so friggin long in the office?! Minutes passed like eternities as her panic turned to fear when suddenly from the other end of the hallway she heard a muffled scream.

Turning quickly on her heel, but with no time at all to run, she came face to face with a sickeningly large Slytherin girl. The girl, a good head taller than Ginny, bore her crooked teeth as she smiled, grasping menacingly tight onto Ginny shoulder. Ginny slapped the girls hand.

"Excuse me. Just what do you think you're doing?" Ginny spat testily, trying to keep up her cover.

"Hey, over here! I got one!" the girl yelled to her right. Ginny's eyes widened as an even larger Slytherin boy came around the corner, twirling his wand in his hand. That was it. Ginny jerked her shoulder free from the girl's grasp and thrust her hand in her robes for her wand.

"Incarcerous!" The boy screamed, and Ginny winced as she knew what was coming. Thick cords wound their way around her hands, and much to her dismay, around her mouth, gagging her. Livid anger shot through her veins as the two latched themselves onto her arms, pulling her along. Screaming despite the gag, she kicked and flung her body around as it was truly the only weapon she had left. But she was no match for the two trolls dragging her down the very hallway she had been protecting.

"What are you DOING!" a deep voice barked suddenly from behind her as her male captor was knocked to the ground. She gasped as Neville, out of nowhere, had her back. He jumped the boy from behind and tried to wrestle the wand from the boy's hands. Ginny tried to scream for Neville as the ogre of a girl flung her arm through the air, connecting straight with the side of Neville's head. A terrible smack echoed the hallway as he hit the floor.

"Two for the price of one huh?" Said the boy, laughing, as he crawled back to his feet and bound a dazed Neville. Her pleading eyes attached with his in thanks before she jumped back into her assault on the girl's shins.

The sense of foreboding and panic that had overcome her in the recent minutes hit a fever pitch as she saw Umbridge at the foot of her office door, followed closely by a bound Luna and Ron being led by two more cronies. Umbridge turned into her office

"HWWWWWRRRIIIII!!!!" Ginny attempted to scream as the Slytherin girl shoved her into the office, bombarding her into her brother. She gasped at the sight of Harry crumpled at the edge of Umbridge's desk, in obvious pain. Every single person had been caught and bound, Hermione had been pressed against the wall by another large girl Ginny couldn't see the face of.

The girl that was holding onto the scrappy red head was wincing in pain from the consistent assault on her shins as she moved them to a corner of the room, she was caving. Ginny got in one very good kick but screamed as the girl forcefully pulled the scalp of Ginny's hair. "I SWEAR," hissed the girl, "Do it one more time and I WILL crucio you," Ginny stopped, she needed a breather anyway. The chaos in the room quieted as all eyes went to Harry and Umbridge.

Breathing heavily from her fight and shocked by the tense situation, the next few minutes felt like a terrible nightmare. Little of which made sense as Ginny decided the best way to act was through stealth. Her captor was focused on Harry and Umbridge as she slowly sidled her bound hands into her robes, just feeling her wand with her finger tips. She grimaced to herself, knowing that the only way to get the wand into her hand was to shift her hip, an obvious movement. Harry was still holding strong, he still wasn't caving. She heard the words "Professor Snape" and watched Draco Malfoy pocket what looked like Harry's wand, and leave the room. The proceedings around her went fuzzy again as she fingered her wand hoping that it would miraculously jump into her hand. What she was going to do with it when it was in her hand, she had no idea, but she would feel much more in control if she could...just...get...

Snape burst into the room, causing the entire room to turn to the door, allowing her to shift her hip perfectly, her fingers triumphantly wrapping around her wand, ready at a split second's notice. She watched as Harry pleaded with Snape, yelling what seemed to be gibberish to the greasy professor, but Ginny knew better. Snape made no motion of understanding Harry's warning: "He's got Padfoot!" The man exited after being no help at all to anyone, except for Ginny of course because she now had control of her wand. A noticeably sour look appeared on Umbridge's face.

The woman's feature's were writhing, and she could see Harry's face getting hot. He couldn't stand the position he was in, trapped with a stupid woman, unable to save the only family he had. Her heart went out to him and a resolve took her over. There was no way he was going to fight this alone. Once they got out, and she knew they would, she would do everything in her power to save Sirius, wherever he was. Harry did not deserve to lose his family yet again.

And it was then that she heard the words that brought her right back into the hot stuffy office: Dementors. Her anger shot up again into her face, clenching her teeth as she heard Umbridge happily admit to setting the dementors onto Harry those many months ago. Ohh, the woman was going down if it was the last thing Ginny ever did. Her fingers tightened instinctively on her wand as she heard a girl yelp.

All eyes shot to Hermione as the girl continued with an odd expression of tears and pleading. The girl that Ginny considered to be the closest of friends suddenly had deceived her and the others, pleading Harry to tell Umbridge. Was she insane? Had she been imperioused? Harry was at a loss for words as the girl continued, Ron looked like he was in a body bind. Her own eyes felt like they were going to fall out of their sockets. But Umbridge, she was looking like a kid who had won the big prize at the carnival.

Her grip on her wand slackened as she listened to the sickeningly odd pleas of Hermione, countered by the cooing excitement of Umbridge. Ginny felt like she was going to vomit, this couldn't be happening, there wasn't any way that Hermione would out the whereabouts of --

"Dumbledore!" Ginny's head shot up like a rocket, hitting her captor in the jaw with the back of her head, but Ginny didn't notice. Every eye in the room had widened at the bogus admission Hermione had made about them trying to help Dumbledore. "_She's a genius_!" Ginny thought as she screwed up her face to look guilty through Hermione's bizarre admission that the group had been building a weapon for Dumbledore. Umbridge was smiling like a jackal, beckoning Hermione to take her to take them to this weapon.

That's when Ginny smiled for the first time. Catching Hermione's eye for a quick moment, Ginny motioned with her free bound hand that wasn't hiding her wand, not sure if her meaning would come across. Jabbing at Umbridge with her finger subtly, and wagging her finger at the rest of the room, she saw Hermione make the smallest nod possible. Was Hermione gifted at Occlumency?

After a heated and disturbing threat of the students of Hogwarts using the weapon on Umbridge, the toad woman ordered only Harry and Hermione to take her and the three swept out of the room. The second the door closed a burst of laughter exuded from a sickeningly happy Draco Malfoy by the window.

"Oh, this is amazing, isn't it? I am so glad I got to witness that," with that, Crabbe and Goyle sniggered like the useless cronies they were. Ginny caught Ron's eye and smiled at him, tightening her hold on her wand, and that is when she tripped herself.

"OWWWW!" she feigned a scream through her gag, staring up at the girl in mock disbelief. The girl rolled her eyes and neglected to pull Ginny off of the ground, just as she had been hoping. The Slytherins were the worst captors she had ever seen, making jokes and losing sight of the fact that if only they could unbind themselves, the room would only be six against four, a number that they could easily handle. Ron's face tilted to Ginny and she saw him staring at her hands. She sidled the base of her wand out just slightly and nodded at him. Without hesitation, Ron spat through his gag, "Ywww fnk dis zz fnnnyy Mawwfoy?"

"So Weasley," Draco drawled, leaving his spot against the window to get right into Ron's face. It was her chance. Slowly she titled her wand out of her robes and muttered the counter curse for her binds as Draco slapped her brother in the face. She was free. Not shaking off the binds yet to blow her cover, she nudged the legs of the person against her, who just happened to be Neville. He looked down discreetly as she pulled her wrists apart slightly, showing her freedom and the base of her wand. He nodded. Looking around she noted to her happiness that all attention was still on Ron as a distraction. She tilted the tip of her wand out once more and muttered the counter curse at Neville, allowing him to slip his hands into his robes and grab his wand. Her eyes blazed at Neville as she counted on her fingers. 1--2--3--

Ginny shot her wand up at her captor and Neville wheeled around at his. 'Stupefy!' they both yelled. The room lit up as streaks of red flew from their wands at point blank range, causing both captors to slump to the ground unaware.

"What the!" Draco yelled as he fished his robes, pulling out Harry's wand. "Expelliarmus!" Ginny screamed and Harry's wand flew straight into her hand, pocketing it as Malfoy dug in for his own. Neville had just done the counter curse on Ron as Ron shot his elbow back, connecting with Goyle's nose.

The room turned into a frenzy after that. Ginny shot the counter jinx at Luna's binds and wheeled around jinxing Millicent Bulstrode with Jelly Legs just as she was about to send a spell, causing the spell to hit Goyle in the nose instead, causing even more damage. Ron had ended up in a headlock by Crabbe as Neville shot such a strong Impedimenta Jinx at Goyle that he looked like a mummy. "Good one, Neville!" Ron winced as Neville and Ginny both ran over to Ron and Crabbe, trying to free him, but Malfoy was too fast for her and backhanded Ginny forcefully backward, finally pulling his wand as arms connected around her ankles, pulling her down.

"Pertificus Totalus!" she yelled as she flew back, hitting Malfoy in the shoulder right as he started to raise his wand. The room gasped as his rigid body toppled into Umbridge's desk and thudded to the ground. Ron took that moment to heel Crabbe in the groin, Neville stupefying him the second he receded a bit from Ron. Ginny hit the ground hard and winced before opening her eyes and seeing Millicent Bulstrode, jelly legs and all, hovering over her menacingly. Ginny kneed the girl in the stomach as the girl's nails connected with Ginny's face, causing Ginny to scream out in pain. "Depulso!" Ginny screamed, trying to tilt her wand at Millicent, but it was no use.

"Furnunculus!" She heard Luna yell, followed by screams from Millicent as the girl rolled off of Ginny. Boils began to puss all over her body as her jelly legs writhed beneath her. Luna offered her hand to Ginny.

"What a weird choice of spell," Ginny said as she was pulled off of the ground.

Luna shrugged, "I like to experiment."

The four gazed in awe in the remains of the office, looking in shock at the carnage they had created. Six bodies laid around the room either stunned or bound, every piece of furniture was broken or blasted apart by a spell.

"Well, I'll say that the D.A. meetings sure did give us an edge, huh?" Ginny laughed, holding her hand to her face which now seemed to be oozing steaks of blood. Ron was holding his mouth, but seemed to be smiling despite it. Neville was breathing heavily and holding his side. Luna was placidly looking out of the window.

"Harry and Hermione just took Umbridge into the forest," she said as though stating the weather, "do you think we should follow?"

"Are you mad?! Of course we should follow them!" Ron spat as he crossed toward the door, Neville following at his heels, Ginny looked around the room one last time.

"Hold on," she said as she strode over to the petrified body of Draco Malfoy. His eyes were wide and frozen, but she knew he could see her and feel every little thing that had occurred, she smiled down at him sweetly, "Hopefully this will teach you not to stick your _nose _in Harry's business, you dirty git," she said as she shot a bat bogey hex right at his face. She could only imagine the agony that was the bat bogey hex while being petrified, and it was almost as much agony as he deserved. "Okay, I'm ready," she said as she stepped over Crabbe's body on her way to the door. Ron's lip was bleeding onto the floor as he doubled over in laughter.

"I love you little sister," he said through laughter as he threw his arm around her shoulder. She patted him on the back as they four of them exited the office quickly, ready for whatever met them next.


	26. A Dark Uphill Battle

The foursome rushed into the Forbidden Forest in the late afternoon sun, Ron leading the way.

"Are you sure you know where they're going?" Ginny asked anxiously as her tiny legs tried to keep up with the long strides of her desperately tall brother.

"I've got a hunch," he stated less than confidently, causing Ginny to sigh as she started to jog. The trees were getting darker and more foreboding as they continued deeper into the forest, stopping only for a second so that Neville could catch his breath. He'd been socked in the gut during the duel, it wasn't treating him well.

"They're this way everyone," Luna said matter of factly, pointing to their right.

"How do you know?" Ron questioned, cocking his eyebrow.

"Because I hear them, Ron," She said bitingly, "Hmm...but I don't hear Umbridge," turning to follow the voices that she heard. Once more the dulcet tones of a yelling Harry beckoned the crowd. The group tromped through a final obstacle of immense underbrush, wands ready for the sight of Professor Umbridge. Surely six to one they could take her. However as they came out in a clearing they saw only a fuming Harry and an exasperated Hermione, both oddly covered in blood. The duo turned quickly and their eyes grew wide at the sight of the foursome. It was hard to say which group was more surprised. Ginny looked down at the torn sleeve of her robes that was streaked with the bits of blood from her face, they did definitely look like they'd fought their way out.

Ron smiled nonchalantly as he told them the harrowing tale of their amazing escape, culminating with a great play by play of Ginny's final bat bogey hex on Malfoy. Having explained their side of the story, they looked quizzically at Harry and Hermione. Harry relayed a bizarre yet incredible story about a pack of centaurs taking Umbridge and how they only escaped because Hagrid's little brother chased them off.

Neville leaned over to Ginny, "Did you know that Hagrid had a little brother?"

"Nope, not a clue," Ginny responded as she took a step forward.

"You might want this," she said, crossing up to Harry, handing him his wand. He let out a small sigh of relief.

"Well, that solves that problem, thanks Gin," and quickly he launched into ways to get himself to London while he reached for his wand.

Ginny gaped at him and her hand wrapped tighter around the base of Harry's wand as he placed his hand over hers to take it. She could not believe her ears. He was thinking of going it ALONE? She couldn't have that. She wouldn't stand for it.

"We're coming with you," she said slowly, eyes blazing deeply into his as they each tightened their grip around the wand. His eyes caught fire, battling with hers. Purple sparks shot from the tip of the wand in their joined hands, making both Harry and Ginny jump.

Luna and Neville took the opportunity to raise their voice about the subject as well. The three of them stood strong against Harry, demanding their involvement. Getting Harry to agree to let herself, Luna, and Neville come along was the most frustrating thing she had to deal with to that point. He was such a prat when he was like this, with his noble savior attitude and his need for isolation. No, she was going, that was that. The argument came full circle to a halt when they realized they still had no means of transportation.

Without hesitation, Luna nonchalantly pointed behind Harry and Hermione, a stark look on her face. Ginny had never thought Luna to be crazy, but at this moment the girl was scaring her. However, at that moment Harry turned around to look and the first smile she'd seen on his face that day crossed his lips. And then it dawned on her. She gasped lightly. Thestrals. Harry and Luna could see them because they had been subjected to seeing someone die. To the ones lucky enough not to have had this experience, they were quite invisible.

Again the fight flared up about whether or not Ginny, Neville, and Luna could go. But Ginny knew that Harry wasn't going to win this fight. He sighed and mounted the blank air. He looked so oddly intriguing on the invisible animal, almost as though his need and determination were making him float there.

Luna took Ginny's forearm and led her. She stopped suddenly and stretched out Ginny's hand. Ginny gasped. The air in front of her felt scaly and hard, she shivered as Luna helped her mount the invisible beast. Her heart beat quickened as she blindly felt her way around the animal, finding places to hang on, her eyes widening at the idea of flying invisibly through the air, a sudden excitement betraying the intensity of the situation. "_This is going to be awesome,_" she thought to herself as she watched her brother fearfully mount his invisible steed. Once the six of them were mounted, Harry wasted no time and his thestral kicked off of the ground, her own following obediently.

She bit back a scream as the animal bearing her shot into the air at a speed she had never before experienced on a broom or otherwise. The wind shot through her hair savagely as she began to feel freer than she ever had before. She wanted one of these as a pet! Looking straight down through what would be the thestrals body, she saw the breathtaking view of the grounds receding below them in the sunset.

The amazement of her invisible ride made the trip go by extremely fast. Before she knew it, she was descending into the twilight of what seemed to be London. The thestrals seemed to know exactly where they were going as she was lowered to the ground, feeling more invigorated than she had felt in quite a long time. She laughed to herself as she dismounted, seeing Ron reeling from his less than satisfactory experience.

"You alright brother?" she asked with an amused lilt, striding to him patting him on the shoulder as he steadied himself on the ground. It was apparent in his eyes that had he been given time, he would have leaned down and kissed the ground under his feet. He nodded and grumbled weakly.

She looked around in the dark twilight and furrowed her brow. They were in a dilapidated alleyway, but Harry was wasting no time as he strode over to an oddly placed cracked telephone booth, beckoning them haphazardly with his arm. She hurried her way up behind him and quickly the six of them shoved themselves into the telephone booth. She was pushed up against the far corner, Neville to her left and Harry's face dangerously close to hers as he spoke quickly into the phone. To her surprise, a female voice from the receiver welcomed them to the Ministry of Magic and they descended in the carriage below the street.

The door of the telephone booth sprang open, emitting the six into the great entry hall of the Ministry of Magic, a place Ginny had not been since she'd started Hogwarts. She remembered coming there with her father as a young child, but then the entry hall was bustling. Today it was utterly deserted. The cavernous and gleaming entryway was daunting and unsettling in its emptiness.

Like a rock to the head, she realized suddenly that she had no clue what they were doing there. The Adrenalin from the afternoon had clouded her mind about what was next, and about what exactly was going on in the first place. She was aware that Sirius was in danger, and Voldemort was to blame, but why the Ministry of Magic?

She was given time to think about this as the army of six was marched directly to the elevators by Harry. He at least seemed to know what he was doing, where he was going, she'd just have to trust him. Her hand tightened on the wand in her robes.

Ginny surveyed the faces of her mates as they stood rigid and waiting in the elevator. Hermione's face was hard and determined, her fear bleeding only from the twitch she had developed from the corner of her mouth. Neville, next to her, was wide eyed and pawing his sweaty forehead with the arm of his robes. Luna's eyes complacently meandered around the elevator, seeming only to take in her surroundings. The panting breaths of her brother Ron were on her neck, she could only imagine the look on his face as they neared wherever they were going. Harry's face, however, was different. No fear showed on it, his face set in a determined focus. It was almost as though--

"Department of Mysteries" rang a female voice.

"Okay this is us," Harry said as he wasted no time leaving the elevator. Her curiosity was sparked even further. The little she knew about the Department of Mysteries was from her father, and there seemed to be absolutely no reason for them to be there. Harry marched straight down the hallway toward a gleaming black door. She saw his hand shaking from anticipation as he put it on the door handle and turned. The prat gave one last attempt at leaving them behind, but to no avail.

Ginny hurried forward through the door before Harry could have a chance to push her back. What she saw upon entering confused her even further. The six stood in a very dark circular room with a series of doors surrounding them. Neville brought up the rear of the group and shut the door behind him on Harry's command. Suddenly, Ginny gave an audible gasp as the doors surrounding them began spinning around the room, and ending suddenly, looking exactly as it had before. But she knew better, they had no clue what door they had come in from. She gulped and fear tore through the Adrenalin that had been rushing through her body.

As Ginny looked around at the many identical doors, she began to listen to what Harry was saying. Quickly, he stole all of her attention and her eyes grew wide as she struggled to see him in the darkness. His hair blended in with the inky blackness of wall, the only thing truly visible was a glitter in his eyes. He spoke as he stared forward about having been here before, in a dream. She shivered involuntarily. He had saved her father's life with a dream.

Before she knew it, Harry was walking forward to the door in front of him, wand raised. She gulped, following his lead as she extracted her wand from her robes, her palm beginning to sweat around the wooden object. The group followed him into the first room, a bright, torchlit room that looked like a large office with what seemed like a large fish tank in the middle. But if they were indeed fish, they were the oddest fish she had ever seen. She furrowed her brow as she stared at it. It wasn't until Hermione got close enough and gasped, stating that they were brains, she was able to look away. Why on earth would anyone ever have a tank of brains? Harry seemed unphased as he stated plainly that it wasn't the room and made it back for the door. Ginny gave one last look at the brains, shook her head, and followed the crowd out.

She took a deep breath as she followed into the next room that Harry chose. Ginny got an odd sensation of something in the room other than them as they entered an eerie, echoie, cavernous and dimly lit space. It was a sort of theatre with stone steps all around, and as she looked down from their topmost perch of the stone seating, the center of the deep pit of a theatre like space held an ancient arch seemingly only held together by some sort of magic. In the arch hung a light undulating material. Her stomach dropped at its sight for reasons she could not explain. Images of sacrifice and worship, altars and killings seiged through her mind as she stared down into the cavernous space, entrancing her. Without hesitation she began to descend into the pit, feeling her body being called to the arch. Faintly she heard voices coming from the others behind her, and for a quick moment she was pulled from her trance as Harry swung past her, heading toward the arch himself. Her feet began to move her faster until she had descended fully into the pit, the intensely large arch waving in front of her. The others were a blur as she urged herself closer, wanting only to walk through the billowing veil and discover its meaning.

Suddenly, she felt a hand wrap strongly around her arm, causing her to gasp as Hermione dragged her up the stone steps. Her heart started to beat faster as she came back to reality, having no clue what dark magic had just possessed her. Fear crept over her like an icy bath. She scolded herself.

Out of nowhere memories triggered from her time with Tom and the diary like they were yesterday. His words, his laugh, the look on his face as he came out of the book. The terrible reality of their current situation hit her like a whirlwind. Tom was there, the man in the flesh who had violated her so terribly, she was about to meet him again. She was very possibly about to face Lord Voldemort. She felt a rock solidify in her gut as she forced her focus back to the present and tightened her hand on her wand. There was no way Tom Riddle was going to take her again, she was not that weak little girl anymore. More importantly, there was no way he was going to take anyone she loved. This time she would fight. An immensely strong surge of power welled up inside of her as she watched Harry open another door.

Ginny took a deep breath and followed the young man through the door, knowing before he said it that this was indeed the room. She could feel an ominous presence. The room was breathtaking. Rows and rows of endlessly tall shelves held an uncountable amount of foggy glass orbs, all of them emitting an eerie glow around the massive black chamber. Regardless of how quiet the six of them were as they followed Harry past many rows, their footsteps echoed loudly in the cavernous space. Ginny fought to keep her focus from being averted by the orbs. Harry began to walk faster and faster, with her right on his heels and Luna directly beside her. They passed shelf sixty seven...seventy four...eighty one...ninety. The whole time Harry repeating 'ninety seven' under his breath, just loud enough for Ginny to make out. Ninety five...ninety six...Harry jogged the last few steps to shelf ninety seven, but Ginny instinctively held back and grabbing Luna's robe, held her back too. Her breath was starting to pant as she looked around the dark glowing room. Silence filled the area they were in with the exception of Harry and Hermione's whispering voices.

Then suddenly she heard the unmistakable gasp of her brother. She wheeled around, wand at the ready, fearing the worst. But the boy was only staring wide eyed at a certain orb at eye level on shelf ninety seven. She inched closer to her brother and raised herself onto her tiptoes to take a peek and gasped herself.

The orb was labeled with Harry's name, and with that name was too labeled 'The Dark Lord'. She glanced up to her brother with wide eyed confusion and shared a nervous glance with him as he called out for Harry. Harry and Hermione came into view, Harry looking livid and Hermione scared and nervous. Ron beckoned him to come over.

Harry came to stand directly next to Ginny as he looked up impatiently at the orb that Ron was directing him to. She studied his face as his expression changed from anger to confusion, the light from the orbs undulating serenely over his features.

She noticed for the first time that faint lines stayed on his brow as he released his tension, lines that had no place on the face of a fifteen year old. He had seen so much and experienced immeasurable amounts of pain, but regardless of the lines, his emerald eyes still glowed bright. In those eyes was a determination with a strength she could only imagine. His face mesmerized her. Much the same way the arch mesmerized her in the previous room. However, as her eyes became fully possessed with each minute feature of his face, she knew in her core that her fascination with him was pure and secure. He would never hurt her the way Tom had. He would never manipulate her to darkness. Following Harry was following the path to light. She knew in that moment that she would follow him anywhere. At that very moment Harry reached out and picked up the orb marked with his name, making her stomach plummet to the ground.

Something inside of her knew that he had made a very bad move. However, nothing happened. The Earth didn't shake, the heavens didn't fall, everything was seemingly in order. But then it happened. She felt it before she saw it. A chill flew up her back as she slowly turned her head around and promptly her heart tried to jump out of her throat.

Large dark figures revealed themselves from the inky black shadows. One by one their outlines became visible as roughly a dozen, of what she could only imagine were Voldemort's servants, surrounded them. In the center of the sinister crowd a drawling voice spoke, beckoning Harry to hand him the orb.

Her hand clenched around her wand as her breath shortened in her chest. She stared out in silence into the crowd who could very well be responsible for her oncoming death. She could feel the shaky breaths of her brother on the back of her neck. The drawling voice was then joined by a shrill and bone chilling female voice as Harry asked for Sirius. Laughter poured from the dark crowd, making her clench. Had they killed him? Her mind raced as Harry continued to keep the masked Death Eaters talking.

Her eyes darted carefully back and forth as she eyed the dark blackness that surrounded them. There was no escape, they were completely surrounded. Huddled together in a tight ball surrounded by the epitome of evil. Harry stood directly next to her, her shoulder touching his elbow, he showed no signs of panic. The voices rose as she tried to come up with some kind of plan. Could they stun a clump of them and make a break for it? But at that moment her attention shot back to Harry as the man's voice rang out loudly.

"Accio Proph-"

"Protego!" Harry screamed, keeping a clutch on the orb in his hand that they all knew now held some kind of prophecy involving Harry and Voldemort. The shrill female voice was seething from Harry's denial of the prophecy. She stepped forward to Harry, close enough to touch him, and removed her mask, revealing a hollowed out shell of a face bright with a maniacal grin and burning eyes. Her eyes burned on Harry for a quick moment and suddenly she spoke.

All Ginny heard was _'take the smallest one' _before the scuffling of feet from her friends drowned out the woman's voice as they pressed in around her, protecting her from the woman. Sandwiched between the five, she could hardly breathe, and her heart began to race even faster. Hermione was on her right, Ginny's shoulder pressing into the girls bushy hair. On her left was Neville, she could feel the sweat pouring through his robes. Harry had moved directly in front of her, obstructing her view and pushing back on her so tightly that her nose pushed into his shoulder. His scent calmed her heartbeat slightly as the scene continued to play out in her ears.

The drawling man's voice became more hardened as Harry continued to defy them and kept them talking. She didn't know his plan, but she was hoping against hope that he had one because she couldn't come up with a thing.

'STUPEF-' yelled the shrill voice, but seemed to be deflected by the man as she heard an explosion, followed by a burst of light she could almost see. New voices made their way into her ears and curiosity took her over. She raised ever so slightly on her tip toes and peered over Harry's shoulder. Vaporous human forms had burst from the broken orbs and their voices filled the echoing chamber. She could hardly make out the words of any voice speaking in the room, either from the vaporous seers or from the shouting of the Death Eaters themselves. She listened hard to what they were saying. She listened hard as Harry continued to talk after the voices of the prophecies died out. Her shallow breaths were leaving condensation on his robes. Her attention was drawn away however as she felt Hermione twitch beside her, making her jump herself. She then heard, or felt rather, Harry's voice whisper to Hermione. Hermione then turned her head a fraction of an inch and whispered to Ron.

Her heart was pounding harder than ever now. Was a plan hatched? In mere moments were they going to take action against the Death Eaters? Luna received the message, she passed it to Neville.

She waited, no one whispered to her. Panic started to take over as she tilted her foot backwards and searched for the foot of her brother. He winced immediately and bent down slightly.

"Plan?" she hissed.

"Oh!" his voice breathed into her hair. He paused, the shrill woman shrieked, "Smash shelves. On his go."

She breathed deeply, tightening her hand around her wand so that her knuckles were surely white. Waiting. Waiting.

"NOW!" Harry voice reverberated through her body.

"**REDUCTO!" **she screamed in chorus with the others, aiming her wand high and forward to her right. The curse hit the shelf two in front of them, victoriously smashing an uncountable amount of orbs as they came crashing to the floor and burst open. It was a if a heavy fog suddenly fell onto the scene. She felt a hand grab her arm and together they ran to the right, streaking through broken glass and confused Death Eaters. The arm let go and cut out in front of her as they reached the end of the aisle. She urged her feet to go faster as she felt robes swoosh past her and a wisp of long blond hair flew in front of her face.

Luna cut to the right, and Ginny followed. But suddenly, to their left, she heard a bone chilling scream that sounded like it could only come from her brother. Without hesitation the girls rounded toward the voice, wands at the ready. The back of a large and stocky Death Eater became visible as they neared the struggle, Ron's body was sprawled on the floor, completely bound. Ginny bit back a gasp as she held out her arm to stop Luna from going any nearer and forced the girls against a dark and shadowy wall.

"Take him out of here. We'll use him for bait," said a crackly low voice from the shadows. The girls crept closer as the Death Eater muttered 'Mobilicorpus' and began stalking off to his right, followed closely by two other another Death Eater out of the shadows.

Ginny pulled together every bit of her focus, and whispered forcefully, "_Stupefy!". _The following Death Eater, caught completely unaware, was stunned on the spot.

"_Pertificus Totalus!" _She heard Luna utter, hitting the other directly in the back and causing him to bind up and hit the floor with a deafening thud. She gulped as she heard footsteps rushing toward them. Inching as far out of the shadows as she would dare, she muttered the counter curse at Ron, relieving him of his binds. The footsteps were growing louder.

"_Ron!"_ she hissed in a whisper, his head swiveled to her voice and he began to crawl toward it. The footsteps pounded the ground now, inching closer and closer. _"Come on_!" she urged him as he stumbled to his feet and slipped into the shadows with the two girls just in time. He was panting, his eyes glowing in fear. Ginny placed her hand on his forearm as the three stood rooted in place against the dark wall.

"Come out children!" sneered the sugary and maniacal female voice as the footsteps stopped directly where Ron had been bound just seconds prior. The three watched her face turn from amusement to anger as she looked at the floor littered with her two companions, stunned and petrified. The shadows played on the woman's mask, making ice fill Ginny's stomach.

The woman quickly muttered the counter curses for the obvious jinxes that had been put on the other Death Eaters.

"Which way MacNair?" she said slowly and melodically as she helped the crackly voiced man from the floor. MacNair shook his head as he got to his feet. The other man, however, pointed directly to the shadows where the three were standing.

"Saw 'em go right there, Bella. Couldn't do nothin bout it, course. Petrified by some dirty kid." he growled.

Without hesitation, the three began to run in the opposite direction. Their cover was blown, there was no way to hide the sounds of their footsteps.

"There's no need to run away Kiddies!" screeched Bellatrix behind them as they continued to run. Ginny felt Ron lurch her to the right, and she followed without delay. The new corridor of the hall was slightly brighter and at the end of it was a doorway, gleaming with an odd luminescence. Ginny's legs shot faster in front of her as she raced for the door, Luna right on her heels. Ron reached the door and tried to wrench it open.

"It's--" But Luna pushed him out of the way.

"Alohomora!" screeched Luna, all the time Ginny checking over her shoulder. The door flew open as her eyes widened at the now four Death Eaters entering the corridor.

"There!" cried MacNair.

"Get in!" Ron shouted as he pulled Ginny's arm and slammed the door behind her. Ginny took no time to examine the room that they had entered, but only noticed two doors directly across from them. The three reached the doors, panting heavily. Luna tried the left door, Ron the right, they both opened.

"Come through this one and then we'll put a sealing charm on it, maybe they'll just go through the other one," Luna panted as she entered the door. Ginny and Ron slipped in behind her. Once the door was shut Luna charmed it locked.

"Ron, are you okay?" Ginny asked quickly as she swept her unruly hair out of her face and looked into the wide eyed face of her brother.

"Just bloody lovely. You?" Ginny nodded as they both looked at Luna. Luna was looking out of breath but disturbingly calm.

"Well, that was exhilarating," she said, "Come on, we need to keep moving," the siblings nodded and followed. The room that they had entered was a simple and small office with three desks, all three of them topped with an exquisite astronomical model. The planets were whirring around inside of them.

"Guys, there's another door over here," Ginny noted as she crossed the small dark office toward it. She laid her hand on the handle and felt an odd and weightless rush, accompanied with a foreboding feeling, "Er, maybe we should wait it out in--"

A blast echoed outside of the room, causing Luna and Ron to rush toward Ginny. Ginny tugged on the handle and the door glided open, sucking the three in as an exultant 'Alohomora!' was screamed at the other door. The handle slipped from Ginny's hand as she glided weightlessly through the air into the next room, lack of control making her fear rise in a fever pitch in her chest. Luna floated past her gracefully.

The vast and deep room was filled with floating orbs of different shapes and sizes. Ginny gasped as she noticed the orbit of the masses. They had fallen into a massive astronomical model. Ginny tried move at her own speed, however it was as though she was swimming through molasses. She could move without strain, but she could not move fast.

"Cunfundo!"

Ginny gasped as she forced her head around. Floating into the room in a haunting sight, were the Death Eaters, their robes billowing ominously. A shot of orange light flew from Bellatrix's wand and connected with Ron, who was a good five meters behind her.

Ron suddenly began to twitch and giggle. "Ginny! Ginny! I'm flying!" he chortled as he began to put his arms out in the air and make swooping noise, "I'm a hippogriff, Ginny, look!". He giggled as he flapped his arms and swooped downward.

The large Death Eater attempted to move his body through the room toward Ron to seize him, "Accio B-"

"Accio Ron!" Ginny yelled quickly at the top of her lungs as a guffawing Ron began to glide quickly toward her, alluding the Death Eater's hand by inches. She caught Ron's arm as she continued to glide.

Suddenly, her back hit something hard, giving her an odd feeling of gravity. She grabbed onto Ron's hand as she whirred her head around, noting that she had indeed run into the planet Saturn. A hopeful idea popped into her head as she forced herself to glide away and up, pulling Ron along, the Death Eaters inching closer by the second.

"Potter isn't with them, Lucius!" She heard a voice bellow.

"Just take them, the boy is too much of a hero to watch his friends--"

Ginny floated triumphantly on top of the planet Saturn, it's small gravitational pull allowing her to ground herself and her brother. It was suddenly as though the action had come back to real speed from slow motion. Her mind raced as she looked out at the oncoming yet floating Death Eaters.

"Depulso!" she bellowed out at the oncoming hoard. The gravity of the planet allowed the charm to shoot out quickly, though it shot past the four Death Eaters. Ron continued to giggle in her ear.

"Great idea!" Luna had landed on Saturn next to the other two, "This really is a great model--Watch out! Protego!" She screamed as four shots of red light were bounced from her shield.

"You are wasting your time," the voice of Lucius Malfoy viciously yelled, "You are outnumbered, you are outmatched,"

"I happen to think we're doing pretty well right now!" Ginny bellowed from behind the shield. The Death Eaters seemed much less scary as they were moving slowly through the atmosphere as compared to Ginny's grounded stand on Saturn.

"I'm on Saturn! Look, Luna! It's Uranus! Ha! Uranus!" Ron fell into a fit of giggles on the top of the planet. Luna inched her way around the laughing boy and got to Ginny's ear.

"There's a door against the right wall, I noticed it before I floated over here to you--Oh Merlin--" she said as her eyes grew wider. The Death Eaters were no longer moving slowly, however, they were plummeting toward them at a flying speed. Having no idea what spell they had used to break the air, she leaned down to Ron.

"Ron...Ron!"

"Yes Gin Gin!?"

"We need to go, can you follow me? Hold my hand."

"You sound like mum. I miss mum," he sputtered out.

"Well, if you follow me, I'll...uh...I'll take you to mum. AND I'll give you all the Chocolate Frogs you want." Ron's eyes widened at that promise. He quickly took Ginny's hand and got himself to his feet.

"I'll be good, I promise!" he giggled, his eyes returning to the glassy stare once more.

"Come on!" Luna hissed as she jumped off the planet, Ginny followed her closely toward the closest wall with the suspended door. The crowd of black cloaks was directly upon them now. Curse after curse was bellowed from behind them as they fought their way floating to the door. Ginny's Quidditch reflexes came in handy as she darted left and right, up and down, barely missing at least five stunners.

"Ron," she tugged his arm, "you've got to---AAAH!" Ginny screamed as she felt a hand grasp around her ankle and pull her backward. She felt her hand lose grip on her brother's.

"I've got the little one!" yelled MacNair as he shot backward through space. Another hand gripped onto her arm as she felt an ominous grip in her stomach. They were about to surround her. She fought with every part of her body and mind to stop the pulling.

"REDUCTO!" Luna's voice wrenched through the air with an intensity Ginny had never heard before. She felt her limbs free from the hands that were pulling her. MacNair screamed in pain as the planet Pluto exploded beside him, covering the entire space around her with white ash.

"ACCIO GINNY!" and suddenly she felt her body coursing through the air and out of the ash. Faster and faster her body moved away from the ashen Death Eaters and to the wall with the door.

Luna grasped Ginny's arm and drug her the last few feet to the door. Ron was already against the wall, running his hand up and down it and giggling. The wall allowed for the same feeling of gravity that had been present on the model planets. Luna grasped the door handle, gasping for breath.

"Ron. Ron, it's time to go," Ginny said quietly as she pulled on his arm, glancing behind herself nervously.

"But I like the wall, It's knobby!" he cooed.

"Chocolate Frogs, Ron. All you want. Right outside this door!"

Ron smiled at her dumbly, "I do like chocolate," he allowed his sister to tug him up toward the door. Luna grabbed Ginny's free hand as she pushed the door open and tugged the two out of weightlessness and into beautiful gravity. Ginny took one step and immediately collapsed to the floor.

"BLOODY HELL!" she screeched, grabbing her ankle in her hand as a searing pain shot up her side. How she hadn't noticed it until now, she could not understand.

"I had a feeling that happened when I blew up Pluto," Luna said, "Come on, I'll help you, we have to keep moving," Luna cast two charms on the door they had just come into. The new room was much like the office they had been in before the planet room, and on the opposite side was another beautiful door that Ron was already close to.

"Are the Chocolate Frogs out here Gin Gin?" Ron questioned, his eyes wide and innocent, Ginny nodded through the grimace on her face. Together the three filed out of the door. They were back in the circular door room. Staring directly at Harry, a bloody nosed Neville, and a limp and lifeless Hermione.

The boys jumped as they saw the three of them enter the room, the doors spinning once again. Ron's giggles echoed terribly as he rejoiced in being reunited with Harry. Harry's face was petrified.

Ginny could not speak, the pain searing in her foot was consuming her. She breathed deeply as Luna told Harry and Neville what they had just been through.

Ginny's eyes locked on Hermione. Hermione was not moving over Neville's shoulder. Panic built up inside her and hot tears began to sting her eyelids from the pain in her ankle to the fear in her heart. It was almost becoming too much. She wrenched her eyes shut.

But she got no rest. The door opposite her burst open, emitting Bellatrix, covered in white ash, along with four other Death Eaters. She felt Luna's arms snake under hers, pulling her to the her footing as Harry fought off and ducked a shower of spells.

Luna snuck to the nearest door, throwing it open, "Harry, this way!" She yelled as she unceremoniously shoved Ginny through the door, keeping her upright by a strongly clenched hand on her forearm. The others were right on her heels. Neville still carrying a limp Hermione, Harry dragging a confounded Ron.

And before them, once again, stood the Brain Room.

"Colloportus!" shouted Harry from directly behind he, sealing the door. A loud thump hit the door, followed by an angry yell.

"_Other ways---" _she heard a yell from behind the door as Luna once again took Ginny's weight.

"Let me see if I--" Ginny tried to take her weight. Stumbling terribly, she sighed. "I--"

But Luna gasped and ran, leaving Ginny to topple to the ground, "Hey!"

Her eyes widened as she realized that Luna's reasoning was far more important than a merely broken ankle. Doors surrounded the room, and jogging footsteps echoed outside. Ginny's heart beat yet faster as she watched helplessly while Harry, Neville, and Luna charmed the doors shut. Meanwhile, Ron was playing with a set of quills from a desk, tickling himself with glee.

"AAAARRRGG!!!" she gasped as she watched Luna fly through the air and hit the ground, no more sound emitting from her. The door that had flown her back flew open and the room filled with yet more Death Eaters.

Injured or not, she still had her wand. Her hand flexed around it.

She watched as Harry retreated back toward her in the long room, pursued by Bellatrix and a mass of others. She stared at his hand, he still had full possession of the prophecy after all of the fighting. It acted as his shield.

Wishing with all of herself that she could just stand and fight alongside Harry, she began to crawl toward the action, wand held high. But something caught her attention.

Ron, completely unaware of how in danger his life was, had lost interest with the quills and was staring at the tank of Brains.

She groaned as she saw his eyes light up. She winced as she heard Harry yelling for his attention. She screamed as Ron _summoned a brain_ directly from the tank.

All action in the room stopped as the brain soared through the air toward her confounded brother. She tried once again to get to her feet, failing yet another time.

The screams of her brother as the brain wrapped tentacles around him tightly were too much to bear. After so many terrible things in this night, her panic rose out of her. There was nothing she could do.

A bright red light erupted directly in her face. All went black.


	27. Insomnia and the Arrival

_Dean,_

_How is your holiday treating you? _

Ginny chewed on the end of her quill as she huddled under a tent of her blankets in the dead of night, precariously balancing a candle and her ink in the other hand. Hermione was soundly asleep, but Ginny was nowhere close. Sleep was not coming too easily for the slight red head since she had returned to the Burrow after her fourth year. So much was swirling through her mind that it was impossible to clear it. She frowned as she stared down at the parchment.

She wanted to write to Dean terribly, she wanted to talk about the mass of things that had been swirling through her mind since the terrible night at the Department of Mysteries. But something was stopping her. Would he understand? Would he know what she was talking about? Would he even care? She really wasn't sure.

Ginny sighed as she crumpled up the piece of parchment and tossed it to the growing pile of parchment balls by her feet. Pulling out the next one, she started again.

_Dean,_

_How are you? I hope everything's well out there in Muggle World._

She immediately scoffed, crumpling up the parchment viciously and tossing it, blowing a stray lock of hair out of her eyes exasperatedly. Pulling out her last piece of letter parchment she started fresh.

_Luna,_

_I'm going mad. You know that feeling that you get when you walk into your house at the beginning of holiday and it's like you've lost five pounds of stress? Well, that did not happen this time. Nothing seems to be right at home right now. My poor Mum has been a mess lately, she's trying to keep it together, but I can tell she's petrified. Dad is never here. He did get a promotion, which is nice, but it would be good to see his face every once in a while. Ron has been a downright prat for reasons I'm about to explain and it only got worse when Hermione got here yesterday. All they've done since she stepped in the door is bicker like an old married couple (I do wish they'd just snog already, it would make everyone's life so much easier). And to top it all off, there's Phlegm._

_What's Phlegm, you ask, Luna? Well, Phlegm is my brother Bill's genius idea for a fiancee. Do you remember the Beauxbatons champion from last year? Fleur Delacour? That is Phelgm. She's going to be my sister in law and she's staying with us for the summer. I'm so happy. _

_Luna, she's treating me like I'm a toddler. She talks to me in this sugary voice, her infuriating veela hair prancing around behind her as she skips her perfect little body through our house telling my Mum about how in France a house like this would never be acceptable. I don't know what my brother was thinking, leaving her here alone for hours at a time, I think my Mum is going to hex her into oblivion. But Ron has been eating her up! I have no idea how many times my eyes have rolled in the past week, I think they're about to fall out._

_Honestly, I don't think that this would all be so bad if Fred and George were here. I miss them so much. There's no one here to lighten the mood anymore. They moved into a flat above their joke shop in Diagon Alley, it seems to be going really well. I'm really happy for them, I just wish that they'd come by more often so that I could have someone to crack a joke with. _

_Luna, I just feel trapped. I don't know if it's the surroundings but I can't get out of my head. I'm having a terrible time sleeping. It's not that I'm scared, you know? It's just that everything that is happening in the world has been taking a toll rather strongly around here. _

_Harry is coming to stay for the summer, he actually should be here in the morning. We had Aurors around all day today casting some intense wards and enchantments around the house for safety. I'm by no means saying that Harry coming is a problem, I think it's great getting him out of that evil house of his aunt's. I'd do anything to make sure he was safe, but just seeing them around the yard, focusing so strongly to protect the house, made me realize the reality of everything that is going on. I can feel everything that happened at the Ministry finally starting to sink in as I watch what's happening to the world after it all. _

Ginny jumped, almost knocking her ink out of her hand, as she faintly heard a knock on the front door of the house. Her heart started to beat quickly as she abandoned her letter. Replacing the quill in her hand with her wand, she crawled out from under her tent of blankets. Voices began to waft up from the first floor as the girl carefully opened her door and snuck down the hallway, pausing only to step over creaky boards. She shuffled her way down the first two steps and saw light flickering from the kitchen.

It was a surprise to see that Tonks still there, making her way out of the kitchen at such an ungodly hour. She had been one of the Aurors setting wards on the house earlier in the evening and had stayed for dinner. Ginny lowered her wand as she heard the calm voice of Dumbledore saying goodbye and crouched down in the shadows to sit on the step she was perched on. Looking through the banister, she felt her face break into a smile for the first time in a week.

Harry entered the kitchen along with Mrs. Weasley and sat himself tiredly at the kitchen table.A wave of calm rushed over her as she breathed a huge sigh of relief to see his figure in the Burrow. Whether or not she admitted it to herself, she was terribly worried about his trip from Little Whinging. The banister bars began to leave indents on her face as she watched the young man eat his soup. Why such a simple and mundane act as Harry Potter eating soup was calling her attention, she did not know.

Quickly, Ginny realized how stupid she would look if she was found like this. Suddenly feeling very foolish, she felt her face flush in the shadows as she pried it from the bars. She stood back up, wincing as she stepped on a creaky stair. Harry's face shot up to her and she caught a glimpse of his beautiful green eyes as he surveyed the area for the source of the noise.

That's enough spying for one night, she thought as she snuck her way back into her room and picked up her quill.

_Well, one bit of good news. Harry just got here. Why he showed up at one in the morning I'm not quite sure but I'm just so happy to see that he got here safe. I'm so sorry if I'm burdening you with this terribly long letter, but thanks so much for reading. You're a really great friend. I needed to get all of that out, there isn't really anyone to talk to here. Everyone is just so tense._

_I wish that Wizards used those Muggle phone contraptions, because I'd really like to talk to your for real. Ooh! Maybe we can arrange a spot of time in the fire. I really miss you, Luna. I do wish that you would come and visit us a bit this summer, I know how much you like garden gnomes and we sure do have a lot of them! A whole village in fact. How are you dealing with everything? Are you having troubles too? I'd really like to know. Please write me, tell me anything. I would love to hear from you. _

_Yours,_

_Ginny_

Yawning widely, she capped her bottle of ink and set it on the dresser along with her quill and the folded letter, ready for Errol the next morning. Ginny stretched her slight frame tiredly and fell into her bed, her now calm mind allowing unforced sleep for the first time in weeks.

* * *

**A/N Super short, I know, but I hope you enjoyed this chapter none the less. I'm working on the chapters for the summer and I have some good ideas. But, my lovely readers, if you have any ideas that you'd like to see about the summer when things start to get interesting between the two, let me know. I want input! Thanks all! **

**L Borealis**


	28. Don't Catch the Phlegm

The only sound that could be heard through the Burrow was the loud running of two sets of feet up the tall rickety staircase. Ginny's hand landed haphazardly on the door handle of her room and she thrust it open, a frenzied Hermione following her quickly. Slamming the door behind them, the girls stood there catching their breath, laughing at the absurdity of the situation.

"We're acting like six year olds, running to my room hiding from people," Ginny scoffed through her laughter, leaning up against the door as she clicked the lock shut, ensuring their safety. Hermione had collapsed on the bed.

"It's not people, Ginny, it's Fleur."

"Ah-hem?"

Hermione sighed, "I'm not calling her Phlegm. But, I think running from her is warranted." 

Ginny made her way over to the bed and collapsed on it next to her friend, "Did you see the look on Harry's face when we ran for it?" Ginny couldn't help but laugh. 

--

The girls had been in the garden, lazily enjoying themselves for the first time in a couple of days. Much to the happiness of the girls and Mrs. Weasley, Fleur had set off into London for a half day of work at Gringott's, allowing a much more comfortable air to fall upon the house. Harry and Ron had returned to their game of Wizard's Chess, boring the daylights out of the girls after they watched three consecutive slaughterings of Harry's chess set. 

This was the way summer was supposed to be. The sun was warm and innocent, a perfect day, blocking out any idea that outside the wards of the Burrow the wizarding world was not enjoying the peaceful air that had descended upon the countryside. A light breeze played the leaves of the trees in the orchard as Ginny and Hermione perched lazily on the picnic table. 

Ginny silently thanked Merlin that Ron and Harry had decided to stay inside and finish their game, allowing her a little time with a Hermione who hadn't been provoked by her insolent brother. It was really the first time the friends had been able to enjoy each others company since Hermione had arrived. It allowed the girls to talk candidly about the things that had been going on for the last couple of months. Hermione listened to Ginny's thoughts on the topics as Hermione all but recited the disturbing news stories she had read in The Daily Prophet. 

"You know that's why I'm here so early this summer, don't you?" Hermione said quietly as she batted a fly away from her face in the late afternoon sun. Ginny looked at her.

"What do you mean?"

"Well..after all of my injuries at the Ministry my parents kind of grilled me about some of the things that have been going on to other people. They're not stupid, you know, they seem to understand that I'm, well, I'm not safe," Hermione fidgeted while she swallowed, "When I found out that Harry was going to be spending the summer here, I figured the wards here would be the best they could possibly be, so your parents offered it as an option to my parents. They jumped at it," she smiled, "Not that I didn't want to spend the summer with you guys, this is like a dream come true. It's just that Mum and Dad kind of insisted I get myself out of the muggle world and to safety as quickly as I could."

Ginny turned her head and looked at Hermione, a weakness she had never before seen came through her eyes for a split second before it retreated again behind Hermione's strong exterior. Ginny knew that it was no use to down play the seriousness of the situation. She knew as well as anyone that, being a muggle-born, Hermione was in a terrible line of danger, or that at least she would be in the near future if things continued in the world the way that they had been. She scooted herself a bit closer to her friend on the picnic table and put her arm around the girl. Ginny felt Hermione stiffen against her small embrace. It was obvious she was not accustomed to being comforted, she had rarely needed it.

"We're glad you came though," Ginny told her, smiling, "I'm glad you came," she nudged her playfully, "Can you imagine how terribly mad I'd go if I had to handle Phlegm on my own?" 

Jumping at the change of subject, Hermione laughed, "I still can't believe what she said to you this morning!"

"I know," Ginny said, sighing as she fell into her perfect imitation of Fleur's voice, while tossing her long mane of hair back and forth with veela like precision, "'Eez so unfortunate zat you deed not 'ave any sisters to teach you to be a girl, Geeny. I guezz I can teach you 'ow to do make up if you'd like and I 'ave an extra air brush if you'd like one.' And to think I had only asked her to pass the butter."

"Like the veela needs makeup anyway."

"Yes, but us creatures of inferior beauty definitely should consider it..or so I'm told," Ginny rolled her eyes. 

At that, Harry rounded the corner slowly, waving to Ginny apprehensively as she spotted him, "Why the long face, Potter?" she asked casually.

He approached the girls with noticeable anxiety, fidgeting with his glasses, "Er..Fleur is back and she's asked if you'd help her with something," and without a backwards glance, the girls ran.

--

"Do you think the entire summer is going to be like this?" Hermione asked, holding a stitch in her side as she rolled over to look at Ginny, who was perched in a useless hiding position on the bed.

"Naw, I don't think my Mum will last much longer before she shoves her in the Floo and sends her back to France. Are you okay?" Ginny asked, noticing a pained strain on Hermione's face.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said as she went to sit up, "Can you hand me that bottle behind you? I'll just take some of this," she said as she unscrewed the potion bottle and tipped a dose into the cap, filling the cap completely with a golden and fizzy liquid before swallowing it back. A sour look played on Hermione's face for a quick second before a look of relief swept it away. She handed the bottle back to Ginny to replace it on the bed stand. 

"What is this stuff?" Ginny asked, examining the bottle before returning it to its place.

"One of the healing potions Madam Pomfrey gave me when I left the hospital wing. That one is for sudden pangs of pain. This one over here," she pointed to a smaller bottle at the foot of her bed, "I'm supposed to take that every night until it runs out. I don't really think I need it anymore, but just to be safe. I think I only have three doses of that left, though."

"How are you feeling?"

"Umm..good most of the time. It's funny, I haven't really thought about it all that much since it happened. When I woke up in the hospital wing and saw Ron in the next bed I, well..yeah," She shrugged as her cheeks smarted the most minuscule amount of pink. 

A knowing smile played on Ginny's lips, "You what?"

"Nothing, I just. Well, I was so worried about him. I hadn't been there to see how he got injured, and then I saw those terrible marks on his arms. I could only imagine what had happened to him," she paused, "It scared me. I could feel that I was going to be fine, but I didn't have any idea about him. Stop looking at me like that!"

"Sorry," her smile grew wider, she couldn't help it, "It's just..when are you going to break it to my brother that you're completely smitten over him?"

Hermione's eyes bulged, "I am not, Ginny, and you know it. He's..Ron's my best friend."

"Harry's your best friend, too, but forgive me for noticing that you definitely don't look at him the way that you look at Ron," Ginny pointed out, challenging the girl in front of her. The truth was, Ginny had always been acutely aware of Hermione and Ron's relationship, or lack there of. Having known her brother her entire life, it had been obvious for quite some time that his feelings for Hermione were more than a mere friend, and vice versa. "Can you explain that?"

Hermione sighed, "Harry..well..he's like my brother..I..this is ridiculous."

"Okay, look, I'm not going to push this. But you have to make me one promise."

Hermione's eyes narrowed, "What?"

"Just _think _about it. Stop lying to yourself and think about it. I mean-"

"Geeny! 'Airmi ne!" a sick sound echoed up the stairs.

"Bollox!" Ginny yelped.

"I don't know why we thought we could hide from her here anyway, it is a bit obvious," Hermione said in a strained whisper as the girls crunched together on the bed, as though they were trying to melt into the wall.

"We went the first place we could think of," Ginny breathed into the other girl's ear, before letting out an odd laugh.

"What?" 

"Oh, an optimistic thought just popped in my mind," she smiled at a quizzical Hermione, "Maybe Phlegm being here is a good thing."

"I can not believe that Ginny Weasley just said that."

"Well, avoiding her definitely gets our minds off of everything else. Her perfectly disgusting face is the perfect distraction. She is a more pleasant distraction to think about than You-Know-Who." 

Hermione stared at her blankly.

"Okay, so I'm pulling at straws. I'm just trying to somehow be optimistic about Fleur."

"Yeah, comparing her to You-Know-Who. That's really a way to be optimistic," Hermione said through small stitches of laughter.

"I just," Ginny sighed, "I'd really like to _like _my brother's fiancee, you know? Just..why he had to pick someone so stereotypically perfect? Weasleys are not stereotypically perfect, not one of us. We're quite a quirky lot!" 

Hermione laughed, "That you definitely are."

"Exactly! Plus, she just treats me like a stupid kid. I'll be fifteen next month, Hermione, I'm not a kid. And it's really embarrassing when she does it in front of-"

Two loud knocks were heard on the door, followed by a whisper, "It's Harry and Ron," Ginny scooted herself to the door, careful not to open it until she knew the coast was clear, "I told her you two were out by the creek, she's gone out there, she won't be back for at least fifteen minutes."

Ginny unlocked the door and stuck her head out covertly, coming face to face with an amused looking Harry, "You're amazing," she whispered.

"Okay, but us _amazing _boys are making you guys come out and play Quidditch with us," Ron said, arms crossed. 

"Fine by me," Ginny smiled as she stepped out the door, followed by a suddenly grumpy Hermione. 

"Can I just officiate?" Hermione asked as they started down the stairs.

"We need equal teams. Sorry Hermione," Ron quipped amused. Hermione sighed as she followed. 

"I'll never understand your problem with Quidditch," said Ron from ahead of them, causing Hermione to speed up next to him as they fell into an age old debate about the importance of the sport.

"Who do you want to be stuck with?" Harry asked her suddenly, making her laugh. 

"It would be a little unfair to put them on the same team, wouldn't it?" 

"First off, I think they'd kill each other. And also, you and I, with our combined Quidditch skills," he smiled, "I think we'd cream them. Er, don't tell Ron I said that," Harry added quickly, suddenly turning pink.

"Your secrets safe with me. I'll take Ron."

"Deal."

"Thanks for saving me from Phlegm. Quidditch with you is much more enjoyable than learning how to wand dry my hair with a round brush."

"I have no idea what that means," Harry laughed.

"Neither do I," she said, smiling at him. The two walked alone to the broom shed where they met Ron and Hermione as he was helping her mount one of the twins old Cleansweeps.

Ginny and Harry grabbed their brooms and were in the air without a seconds warning, "Ron! When you come up bring the Quaffle! You're on my team!" she yelled down as out of the corner of her eye she could see Harry going through his obviously perfected warm up routine. 

Time passed slowly as Ron and Hermione were still on the ground, "Do you think she's faking it?" Harry joked, startling Ginny as he flawlessly pulled up next to her. His eyes were sparkling and his messy hair was tousled out of control by the wind. Ginny gulped as she felt her stomach swoop and forced herself to push down the momentary lapse of Harry weakness. She covered it by smiling at him broadly.

"Naw. It's just the one thing in this world she isn't incredible at. We'll whip her into shape this summer, though, eh?"

"Sounds like a plan," Harry suddenly raised his eyebrows in challenge, "Care to race?"

"You're on," Ginny yelled and shot out toward the opposite end of the pitch without any warning. Pulling herself as close to her broom as possible to cut out the wind, she heard Harry yell behind her. But before she knew it, he had pulled up right against her, the two of them determinedly shooting toward the end of the field. Ginny could feel the wind pulling her hair out of its sleek ponytail as she shot a covert glance over at Harry. His glasses were plastered against his face by the wind and his hair was shooting straight back, he looked at her quickly and smiled before shooting in front of her with ease. 

"Oh! You think so!" Ginny yelled as she willed her broom to take her faster. But it was no use. Harry was at the end of the pitch a full brooms length before her. Ginny laughed, she knew there was no way she could beat him. His broom was international racing caliber and regardless of how much she loved her beautiful Cleansweep, her's was not. 

"Nice flying, Miss Weasley," Harry said in a mock professional tone, holding out his hand to shake.

"Well, thank you," Ginny replied in kind, taking his hand. 

"Oi! Why'd you guys fly off like that," Ron yelled as he neared them, followed by a very out of place and uncomfortable looking Hermione. It was so surreal to see Hermione on a broom, her endless amounts of hair refusing to stay tied back. 

"What took you guys so long?" Ginny asked back, eyeing Hermione, who was blushing and obviously avoiding eye contact as she struggled to pull up next to Ginny.

"Er..Ginny?" Harry asked quietly in her ear.

"What?" 

"Can I..er..can I have my hand back?" 

Ginny's face shot scarlet, she laughed nervously as she let go, "Sorry," she said quietly, wiping her suddenly sweaty hand on her pants. She could swear she heard the faintest snicker from the lion haired girl perched haphazardly on the broom behind her.

The four wasted no time breaking off into their teams. Ron and Ginny streaked down to the opposite end of the pitch to get into position. 

"Ron, what took you guys so long?" 

"Nothing! I just gave her a lesson in broom handling is all," Ron said quietly as he flew off to his Keeper position.

The late afternoon sun began to fall quickly as they enjoyed their time in the air. Hermione agreed make an attempt at playing Keeper, which warranted another long and drawn out lesson on the topic, with Ron as her willing teacher. Harry and Ginny passed the time tossing the Quaffle back and forth from the most difficult positions they could think of. 

"You know," Harry said as he pulled up to Ginny after a long drill, "I rather like playing Chaser. Care to stay on the house team as Seeker? I think I'd like the change."

Ginny threw the Quaffle at him, "That Chaser spot is mine..hopefully," she added quickly, not wanting to be too boisterous as it was very possible she was speaking to the future Captain of the team. 

"Well, I-"

"GINNY WEASLEY!" Suddenly, the air around them reverberated like a boom mic with the sound of the girls name, she winced.

"Yeah?" she murmured under her breath, fearing the worst.

As though her mother had heard her faint response, the grounds echoed with, "I NEED YOUR HELP WITH DINNER! COME IN THE HOUSE PLEASE!"

"Ugh," she shuddered, looking at Harry, "Can't get me out of this one, can you Harry?"

"Umm," he laughed, "I can lie to Fleur all you want, but I draw the line at lying to your Mum."

"Fair enough," she gave him a wry smile, "Thanks for the Quidditch Harry," and with that she shot to the ground.

Ginny was in the broom shed, securing her's into its place when she heard the faint crack that sounded like body hitting tree.

"I'm fine!" Hermione's voice echoed at once. Ginny quickly stepped out of the shed to see a harried looking Hermione stalking over to the broom shed, limping on one foot.

"Between Fleur and Quidditch, I choose Fleur," she grumbled as Ginny took the broom from Hermione's hand.

"Are you okay?"

"Incredible," she hissed, batting a chunk of her thick and tangled mane out of her face, "Never been happier to help your Mum with dinner, that's for sure," she attempted a smile.

"There's the silver lining," she said as they began to return to the house, Hermione hobbling all the way.

"You should have my Mum look at your leg. She's a pro at fixing Quidditch injuries."

"Yeah, I think I'll do that."

The girls entered the house to the sound of loud humming coming from the kitchen. Cautiously entering they saw Mrs. Weasley gingerly standing over the stove, watching a stew stir itself.

"Nice Sonorus, Mrs. Weasley," Hermione said as Mrs. Weasley turned around. 

"Oh girls! I was wondering where you got--Hermione, what happened to you?" Mrs. Weasley screeched suddenly as she hurried over to the girl, taking in her dirty clothes, ripped jeans and hobbling walk.

"Hermione has her first Quidditch injury," Ginny said matter of factly. Hermione shrugged.

"Come on, honey, lets sit you down, I'll look at that leg," Mrs. Weasley shuffled the girls into the sitting room, placing Hermione on the love seat, "You shouldn't be doing such things as Quidditch yet! You're not fully healed! Ginny, will you go upstairs and grab Hermione's potions?" 

"Oh, that's not necessary, it's only a little bump on my leg," Hermione pleaded, looking a little helpless as Mrs. Weasley busied herself with Hermione's leg.

"Just in case. I don't want you doing anything but getting better."

Ginny scooted herself up the stairs and grabbed the bottle that Hermione had taken from earlier, returning quickly.

"Thanks Mrs. Weasley," said a pink faced Hermione, "It feels perfect."

"Good. Now dear, take a bit of your potion," Hermione obliged as Mrs. Weasley stood up and turned to go back to the kitchen. She stopped dead in her tracks in the doorway, the girls right on her heels. 

Leaning over the stove, unannounced to anyone, was Fleur, stirring the pot herself.

"Fleur, honey," Mrs. Weasley started carefully, "What are you doing?"

"I zink things taste much better when they are stirred with love and not with magic," Fleur's sugary tone replied, and was added with a more snide tone, "and I would like thees to taste as good as is..possible." Hermione and Ginny exchanged large eye rolls. 

"Right," Mrs. Weasley managed out, before she quickly bustled toward the stove herself, "Well, Fleur, that's enough love for that pot. Would you like to lovingly peel some potatoes?"

"Oh, Mizzez Weasley, potatoes at every meal. They are so very starchy," Fleur said dejectedly as she sat at the table, "In France we-"

"Drive people crazy?" Ginny murmured to Hermione as the girls shuffled reluctantly into the kitchen. Fleur looked up and gasped.

"Geeny! 'Airmy ne! What 'appened to you?"

"Quidditch," Ginny answered easily as she took a seat at the table and started to peel a potato.

"But..but you are so dirty! And 'Airmione, your 'air!"

"It's a dirty sport," Ginny shrugged, biting her lip hard.

"But eet eez most unlady like. Girls should not be playing Quidditch," Fleur said, shaking her head in a disgusted manner. Ginny focused hard on the potato she was peeling.

"I don't know. I think it's pretty great how good Ginny is at Quidditch."

The knife slipped. Ginny looked up to see Harry and Ron in the doorway, Harry leaning easily against one side, smiling at Fleur. For the faintest second, she could swear Harry darted his eyes at her, a faint mirth playing behind his glasses.

"I was just saying, zat eet eez not very lady like," Fleur said matter of factly.

"Didn't I watch you fight a dragon a couple of years ago?" Harry asked as he entered and sat down at the table across from Ginny. 

"Well, yes, but that was-"

"It was a lot of things. It was great. But I don't think that it was lady like," Harry challenged her, a very uncharacteristic cockiness exuding from him.

"Well..I-" Fleur stuttered, "I do guess zat eez true."

The room suddenly felt very hot.  Ginny bit back a smile and batted back a chunk of her messy wind blown hair as she meekly looked up and made contact with Harry's eyes, the tiniest and most uncharacteristic giggle emitting from her as he shot her a mischievous wink. 


	29. A Criminally Sweet Night

There was one, and only one good thing about Fleur Delacour's presence at the Burrow. Her Chocolate Souffle. It was undeniably perfect, or so everybody said. And it drove Ginny insane...because there was absolutely no way that she could eat it.

After a month of dwelling on each and every bad trait of Fleur's, she just couldn't find it in herself to accept that a positive trait could exist, much less embrace it.

Yet, regardless of her personally sworn oath against all things Fleur, her insides cried out in anguish as her mouth watered at the sight of the amazing souffle that glided to rest in front of her after dinner. The rest, the filthy hypocrites, including Hermione and her mother, dug in with delight. Light and fluffy chocolate assaulted her senses as she watched the table enjoy their tantalizing dessert. Ron's eyes were close to crossing. Bill looked about to pass out from euphoria. Harry was licking his spoon in a way that made her eyes bulge. She was surrounded. Surrounded by dirty, evil Phlegm laced chocolate. This was her worst nightmare.

"Ginny?" Hermione said quietly from next to her, her traitorous lips smeared with souffle, "Are you going to eat that?"

"No. And neither are you," Ginny stated, uncrossing her arms and scooting her untouched plate further away from Hermione's hungry eyes.

"Don't you think you're going a little far? It's just souffle," Hermione said, her eyes going suddenly hazy, "Incredible, delectable-"

"Bloody hell, I think she drugged it! Listen to you!" she hissed back at her weakened counterpart.

"You're completely overreacting, Gin," came a voice from her right. She turned as Harry finished licking the base of the spoon and pushed away his empty plate, snatching her untouched plate with Seeker fast reflexes before she could stop him. She felt her eyes narrow in fury as Harry delved into her souffle. Huffing slightly, she turned away.

"Honestly, I'm not that big a fan of chocolate."

Harry snorted, "and how many _Chocolate _Frog cards do you have?" His chocolate laced smirk was infuriating. Ginny took another sad glance at her demolished souffle as Harry savagely finished off the last few bits.

"That's different. I eat them for the cards, do I not?"

"You just keep telling yourself that," he teased as he patted her on the back.

"Don't touch me, traitor," she said to him pointedly, though she couldn't completely fight back the smirk growing on her lips as he laughed.

For the most part, the first month of summer at the Burrow had flown by quite nicely for the foursome. The days had mostly been filled with hours upon hours two a side Quidditch, picnics that the four of them had packed down by the lake, random chores beset upon them by Mrs. Weasley, and the occasional letter from Luna or Dean.

All in all, given the state of things in the world at the moment, the summer days could not have been more smooth or relaxing.

However, the nights were a different story. Order members were present at almost every evening dinner, filling the household in on the next set of dementor attacks or the newest disappearances. It was an odd feeling to go from such a normal days with Harry, Ron and Hermione, days where it felt like there could be nothing out of place in the world, to evenings filled with countless disturbing stories, compliments of Lupin, Kingsley, Tonks or whatever Order member shared their dinner for the given evening.

It was around that time in the night when Ginny's anxiety would creep back into her mind, staying there through the night to rob her of sleep and assault her dreams if she was lucky enough to get so far as to have any rest. So many sleepless nights had past in her bed, on the porch swing outside, on the tiny space of roof outside of her window...

This epidemic found her at the end of July in the same place she had been many times during the summer. Hidden in a self made tent beneath her blankets, quill in one hand, parchment laid out neatly in front of her, careful not to wake up a sleeping Hermione. Though it seemed the drugged chocolate souffle was going to make it quite impossible to make Hermione stir for some time. It was nearing one in the morning, the letter no closer to being done than it was an hour ago.

_Dean,_

_I miss you too!_

She thought as she mindlessly chewed on the end of her quill. She definitely missed snogging him, that was for sure, and he was really fun to talk to. He wasn't brooding like Michael, he had a boisterous laugh and a carefree nature. She missed his smile. But, as she had found herself so many times in the summer, she didn't know what to write to him about. She sighed...

_Thanks for the invite and I'd love to go to a football game with you sometime! Obviously not right now. As you can understand, my Mum is a bit...umm.. _

She sighed. How to explain casually that Mum was losing her mind over the dire safety of her family. How to explain to him without scaring him that every single hand on the family clock was pointed at 'Mortal Peril'?

_well...overprotective at the moment, so I don't think she'd let me out to go to a Muggle sporting event. It does sound fun though. Though the concept sounds a little funny with people running on the ground. But I guess if you don't have brooms...Also, I'm really sorry, but I won't be able to meet you and Seamus in Diagon Alley next week. I asked my Mum and even reminded her that Fred and George live there, but she wouldn't budge. But you guys have fun!_

_Things are okay here. Lots of Quidditch, so that's good..._

Oh, how she couldn't wait to just SEE him! Writing casual talk in a letter was terribly difficult during the late night when all of the thoughts that swam through her head were anything but casual. But it just didn't seem like the type of feelings she wanted to share with Dean. Dean didn't function as good as a fabulous distraction when he was just on paper, but she would see him soon enough. Now, just how to end the bloody letter. And then her stomach growled.

Ginny stared at the letter for minutes, her hand tight on the quill, but she was no longer thinking about writing. The souffle. The bloody amazing souffle.

Before she knew it, she had already shoved her wand in her the pocket of her pajama pants and was halfway down the stairs, her feet expertly navigating the creaks in the staircase. Mouth watering at the thought of finally having a secret taste of the sweet that had plagued her so badly for the last week. She reached the dark kitchen to find just one helping of the souffle left over, it was meant to be.

Ginny blinked in the blackness, worried that someone, anyone, was baiting her into this terrible indiscretion. When she made her presumption that she was indeed alone and safe, a smile crept across her face, the souffle slipping beautifully onto a small plate and into her hand. Quickly grabbing a spoon and a small glass of milk, she made her way out of the kitchen and toward the back door. There was no way she was going to return to her bedroom with such an incriminating object, this must be done in secret.

She unlocked and creeped the back door open, wincing at each and every creak and squak that it made. Slipping through it with her thin frame, she found herself safe and outside on the small back porch in the middle of the surprisingly cold night. A pale full moon illuminated the garden. She shivered as goosebumps appeared on her arms. Oh but it was worth it, to be able to enjoy her criminal souffle in utter--

"Ginny?"

She jumped, her spoon flying out of her hand and clanking down onto the ground, a bit of milk splashed from the glass and onto her hand. Her heart was about to burst through her chest. Wincing, she slowly turned to her right.

Harry sat, wrapped in a blanket, cuddled up on the porch swing. An amused look played on his face as he took the small red head in, quaffle pajama pants, bright purple tank top, and a heaping plate of souffle.

"And you called me a traitor?" he asked quietly, obviously biting back a laugh. Every part of her, whether visible or not, felt a little more warm as her Weasley blush betrayed her horrified embarrassment.

"Don't tell-"

"A soul, I won't," he said quietly. He patted the empty half of the swing next to him. She obliged slowly and silently, acceptance of being caught red handed slowly taking over. Harry leaned over and picked up the discarded spoon that had landed next to his foot. Wiping it on his blanket, he handed it over. But as she went to reach for it, he pulled it away, "One condition."

"I knew that had been too easy."

"You have to share it with me."

Her nose wrinkled at the idea of sharing her beautiful contraband dessert with Harry, she weighed her options, "Not the worst request you could have made. Just don't wolf it down like you usually do." And with that he handed back her spoon. She stared down at the souffle, the odd feeling creeping up the side of her neck like Harry was watching her. Feeling oddly exposed, she slowly dug the spoon in and brought it up to her mouth, the smell entrancing her.

"...mmmgmmm..." was all that she could bring herself to mutter. It was as though the supreme power of the chocolate had taken her over. She looked at Harry, eyes wide.

"I told you you've been overreacting," he said as he took the spoon from Ginny's limp hand and stole a bite for himself.

"That's perfection!" she squealed, "You should feed this to Voldemort next time you see him. It'd make him so innocently happy I think he'd explode."

"I'hh puh thah onmi lishth ov wayths to tacghe im down," Harry said with his mouth full, handing the spoon back to Ginny.

"Milk?" she asked handing it towards him as she contemplated the chocolate smeared spoon in her hand. Sharing a spoon with Harry...

"Fanks," he downed half of her glass in one gulp.

"Leave a bit for me, thanks?"

"Oh, sorry," he said as she shoved another large piece of souffle in her mouth.

"Gwah arr dgng oufear nnway?"

"Come again?" he asked, handing her the half glass of milk. She drank it back quickly.

"Sorry, What are you doing out here?"

"Oh...you know...couldn't sleep," he said quietly, pulling the blanket tighter around him.

"You either, huh?"

He shrugged, "I'm pretty used to it. I actually come out here a lot at night, helps me think."

"Then it's amazing we haven't run into each other before, I come out here a couple nights a week."

"Hmm," he remarked quietly, as he stared off over the dark star strewn Quidditch pitch, Ginny followed his gaze and silently they continued to trade the spoon back and forth in the chilly night, until the plate was so clean Ginny couldn't have gotten another morsel if she licked it. She set the plate down next to her feet and pulled her legs up to her chest, fighting back a shiver.

The silence continued. Ginny could only think that he was uncomfortable.

"Do you want me to g--"

"You know, I really miss--"

"Huh?"

"You First." she said. He laughed slightly, his eyes crinkling in the light of the moon as he looked at her.

"You must be freezing!" He gaped suddenly as he looked her up and down, taking in her small sleeping top.

"Er...I..." she tried to protest, but Harry had already extracted himself from his blanket and attempted to wrap the half in his right hand around her. The teenagers awkwardly maneuvered themselves to fit underneath the blanket, finding themselves pressed tightly against each other as he closed the blanket around them. The warmth of his body quelled her shivers immediately, but it did nothing for the goosebumps.

"I was just going to say that I hate how cold this summer is. It's just a constant reminder that they're multiplying."

"There really are few things more romantic than dementors mating."

He chuckled, "It just warms your heart doesn't it?" they sat in silence for a moment.

"So what are you doing out here? Unless it was just smuggling chocolate."

"Nah. I haven't been sleeping too well lately either. I spend a lot of nights either out here or--"

"On the roof?"

She whipped her head to look at him in surprise, taking herself aback when she realized his face was only a mere few inches from hers, "How did you--"

"Oh, I didn't really. It's just, I was out here a couple of weeks ago and your little roof landing is right above this porch, I heard a noise up there and then a girl's voice say 'Bloody hell!' Figured it was you. Hermione doesn't swear and Fleur usually seems to swear in French," he shrugged.

"Well, that would do it."

Ginny was all too aware of every move that her body made, or that Harry's made for that matter. She could feel his hand resting on his knee, a finger absentmindedly brushing against her foot.

"Umm..the moon is gorgeous tonight," she said quickly, averting her mind from Harry's rogue hand.

"I loved the full moon when I was a kid," Harry said quietly.

"Yeah?"

"I'd sneak out of my cupboard at night after my aunt and uncle went to bed. I'd sit at a window and just stare at it."

"Sorry...your _cupboard_?" Ginny asked quizzically, looking up at him.

"Under the stairs," he said casually, "The Dursley's idea of a bedroom for would be wizards. It was a pretty big cupboard, though."

"Well...well that's good," she managed awkwardly, taken aback by the information.

He laughed, "Always the optimist, aren't we Gin?"

"I try."

"But no, I'd sit there for hours, just staring at the moon."

"Any certain reason?"

"I don't know. It made me think about my parents a lot," he said, "Which actually makes sense now."

"How so?"

"Just the fact that, well, my dad especially, the moon was probably pretty important to him. Because of Lupin and all."

"Oh, yeah," she said quietly, shivering despite herself at the thought of where Professor Lupin was at the given moment, "Did he help him a lot?"

"As far as I understand, that's an understatement," he looked at her surprised, "That's why they were animaguses."

"Oh!" she gasped slightly, looking up at him, "Your dad...? I mean, I knew that Sirius was and, and Scabbers..."

"Peter."

"Yeah, but Scabbers was actually a good name for such a slimy git."

He snickered, "Fair enough."

"Still can't believe I let that thing anywhere near me when I was little. But I had no idea your dad was an animagus too. I mean, I don't know why it didn't dawn on me...what was he?"

"A Stag."

"A--" she gasped, remembering the stag she had met in the Room of Requirement, "Your Pat--"

"Yeah, it's my dad."

"It's really beautiful."

"Thanks," he said quietly.

"So they transformed to help...for Lupin?"

"Yeah," he said with a confused tone, "For some reason I guess I thought you knew all this,".

"Ron and Hermione only tell me the basics."

"I've just gotten so used to you being around this summer I expect you know everything they know."

"Not quite," she smiled, "However, I bet they don't know that you sneak out here at night, do they?"

"Of course not. Hermione would worry herself dead if she knew I wasn't sleeping."

"We'll just keep that a Harry Ginny secret then, eh?"

"Sounds good," he said, smiling.

"So, where were we? Your dad was a stag...how did they help Lupin?"

"Oh, well, I guess when he was alone in the Shrieking Shack he'd really mess himself up, but this way he was able to run free while he was transformed and they would keep him in check in the forest. Pettigrew was small enough to get him out from the Whomping Willow. My dad and Sirius would wear him out. Sirius told me it was his favorite night of the month."

"Talk about great friends."

"The best."

Ginny felt Harry's hand clench on his leg, pulling the stray finger from her cold foot. She looked at him. His face was suddenly distant.

"You miss him, don't you?" she asked feebly.

"Like hell."

Ginny didn't respond. The truth was she didn't know how, but the silence seemed comfortable. She pulled her knees closer to her body as she stared off, allowing him his own thoughts.

"I just wish we'd had more time, you know?"

"Huh?" Ginny asked, her tone one of utter surprise.

And from there, much to Ginny's surprise, Harry began talking, really talking, about Sirius. Ginny listened intently as he told her about his relationship with Sirius, the things that he missed, what he never got to ask him. He told her stories about his parents that Sirius had shared with him, laughing about them lightly as he spoke. He told her about the nights his face would appear in the Gryffindor fireplace and the letters addressed to Snuffles. His tone was lighter than she ever would have expected.

It was as though he was siphoning a wound, cleaning it of poison as he divulged each and every thought and memory. Cleansing.

Slowly, however, his tone grew darker.

"He was just the closet thing to a parent I've ever had."

"I know, Harry. Though I think my Mum would beg to differ. I think she's about to dye your hair red so that she can truly claim you," Ginny said, nudging him, "I would rather she didn't. I rather like your hair black."

"Erm...thank you?" Harry said with a surprised tone, looking forward. Ginny felt her cheeks smart. They sat in silence for a moment.

The moon began its nightly fall from the sky as Harry continued, his tone falling.

"I just can't believe I did that."

"Did what, Harry?"

"It's so obvious now, looking back at everything. I can't believe I never caught on that he was baiting me."

And like a lightbulb popping on over her head, Ginny knew they were entering the Department of Mysteries. She swallowed, "Harry, anyone would have reacted the way that you did. Especially after what Kreacher told you. There wouldn't have been a doubt to anyone who'd been in your shoes."

"He's dead because of me."

Ginny's body was moving before she had control. Suddenly she was kneeling on the swing, facing Harry fully. The blanket had become quickly unraveled, and it was freezing.

She didn't even give herself a second to weigh her words, "Would you have died to save him?"

"Yes," he said without hesitation.

"And he would have died to save you. You went there that night to save him because you knew he was in danger. **He **went there that night to save **you** because he knew **you **were in danger," he glanced at her quickly, but averted again, "Voldemort is a terribly strong wizard, and though you've thwarted him however many times, it doesn't mean that you're impervious to him, Harry. And you can't blame yourself for that. He trapped you and Sirius came to save you. Just as you did for him. I don't think that Sirius would regret it for a second."

Harry stared forward for a moment in reverberating silence.

"Thank you," he said finally, in a voice hardly above a whisper.

"...for what?"

"No one's ever said that before."

"Really?"

"No. They usually just say that what happened was good because it made the ministry accept Voldemort's return."

"Well, that was a definite plus of the situation. But that's not worth Sirius dying over," she said in a soft tone, "but it was worth it to Sirius to save you."

They sat in silence, Ginny looking at Harry, Harry looking forward as a small and secretive smile passed over his lips. Slowly his head turned to her. His sad eyes stared into hers in a way that unnerved her. His face so dangerously close to hers. He was looking at her as though he was taking her in for the first time. Ever so slowly, her eyes fluttered shut.

"Get back under the blanket," he said quietly. Breaking out of the moment, she obeyed, her toes were beginning to numb. Pressed back against Harry again, she felt a rush as his hand lightly brushed hers.

Then every nerve in her body went off as he took her small cold hand in his.

"Thank you," he whispered, holding her hand a bit tighter as the two fell into a warm blanket of silence.

* * *

A/N: Sorry for the few who read this in the first hour of posting, I made a mistake and a chunk of the next chapter was posted along with this one, so those few of you, consider it a sneak peek! New chapter very soon. Please review! Thank you my lovely readers!


	30. The Sky and the Soul

* * *

It was the loud chirping of a bird that awoke her. Not the terribly painful position her body was in, not the fact that the blanket had slipped off of her shoulder. She blinked against the first hints of dawn, trying to put together where on earth she was.

The rough wooden slats digging into her thigh announced that she was indeed on the porch swing, her head resting on a hard and bony pillow, something...resting on top of her head? Ginny turned her head her head slightly inside the confines and was met with a pair of wire frame glasses dangling above her from a face.

She swallowed. Her left hand was sweaty. In wriggling it she realized it was still connected with his.

Heart shooting to her mouth, slamming quickly against her ribs. A heartbeat akin to a nightmare, or a wonderfully pleasant daydream, Ginny realized the precarious situation. She tried in vain to extract herself away from Harry without waking him. But it was no use. The two were entwined like perfectly jigged puzzle pieces.

She managed to remove her hand from his, flexing it as it felt terribly cold in his absence. But as she tried to pry her head from his shoulder, he stirred. She froze to the spot. A pained and nervous look etched on her face.

Harry's sleeping form shifted yet further into her. His face falling into her messy hair and his arm snaking further down her shoulder, trapping the girl completely. Harry's entire body expanded as he breathed deeply within the depths of her hair, letting out a small and indiscernible moan against her ear. With the intensity of a stunning spell, every single piece of her flooded with a long forbidden and forgotten spark, calling back to a girl that she once banished from herself. What a perfect way to--

--this was bad. Thoughts of Dean shot through Ginny's wide eyes as she re awoke from her momentary lapse. Returning to the task at hand, she surveyed her escape route feverishly. There was no question. She needed to remove herself from him right away. She needed to extract his arm that was pulling her in, the sleeping fingers playing on her bare shoulder, lift off her leg that was slumbering over his own, and remove his face buried deep within her hair, his rhythmic breathing tickling her neck, as though attempting to paralyze her into such a perfect daydream.

The leg, she decided. The leg could be the first to move. But upon first attempt, she grimaced. The leg, lying at such an odd angle, had lost bloodflow and was very much asleep. Pulling her focus to move her useless leg, she tilted her body into him ever so slightly.

His scent promptly assaulted her senses. Woodsy, warm, and sweet, it rendered her paralyzed as it washed through her. The Angel of her practical mind and the Devil of every other morsel of her body fought yet harder as her senses became more and more acute to all that was Harry. Leaving this peaceful Eden was the hardest thing she had ever had to do. His breath slowly beating against her ear, calling her deeper and deeper into him and his warm form, begging her to stay entwined in such a perfect moment.

But this was not her perfect moment. She had fought against it for years, now was not the time to give in.

"Hi..." he whispered quietly.

And with that, every part of Ginny seized in shock, her leg quickly jumping from his thigh with a screech.

"Ouch!"

Breathing heavily in her startled state, she turned to him, his forehead cradled in his hands. He was holding his scar.

"Is it?..Are You?.."

"No. You just elbowed me in the forehead," he grimaced as she felt her face heat like a cauldron.

"Er...good morning?" she said feebly, feeling slightly relieved as he chuckled, "I'm...Umm..sorry about..er..."

"It's okay. Didn't hurt that bad, just surprised me, you know, since I've only been awake for fifteen seconds," he said with a light laugh.

But then Harry went silent. Ginny wondered if he realized the state that their bodies were tangled in. If he was embarrassed. If he was uncomfortable.

He must have felt something because he quickly attempted to untangle himself. She obeyingly followed his lead.

"Never let me fall asleep out here again. I feel like I've just been Crucio-ed."

She straightened up and stretched her small frame, "I have no recollection of falling asleep."

"Neither do I," he said as he removed the blanket and rubbed his eyes. Silence descended once again.

"My leg is asleep," she said awkwardly as she tried to stretch it.

"Er...sorry for... for falling asleep on you," he mumbled. She felt her face flush terribly yet again in the early grey of dawn as she looked at him.

"It's okay...couldn't help it, really... I'm just glad we both got some sleep for once, yeah?" at that, he broke into a small smile. She breathed a heavy sigh of relief, "We woke up right on time, I love the sunrise," she said as she settled back onto the porch swing.

"Yeah," he said quietly, pausing before looking over at her, a smirk playing on his tired face, "But I bet it would look better from the sky..."

It only took her a second to understand the meaning before a large smile burst across her face and a self conscious and worried weight flew from her shoulders, "You are a genius, Mr. Potter."

He cracked his stiff neck and managed to stand up, holding out his hand for her. Taking his hand, she tried to put her weight on her still sleeping leg. She laughed as she propped herself on his shoulder and shook the blood back into her leg, "Good as new, lets go."

Harry led the way to the broom shed as the rays of light slowly began to break through the inky blackness. The shed itself was still dark as pitch.

Ginny pulled her wand from the pocket of her pajama pants, "Lumos."

"You know you're not supposed to use magic outside of school for another three years, right?" he teased as he dug out and handed her her broom.

"Uh uh," she teased, "Two years and...thirteen days. Oh Merlin! Happy Birthday Harry!" she said happily, going in for a hug...but deciding at the last minute to rap him hard on the shoulder instead, in a very platonic way.

"Oh...Thanks!"

"Let's get in the sky before the sun rises. I've never seen the sun rise from the a broom before," Ginny said as they walked toward the orchard.

"Definitely," he responded with a smile, following her lead. The ground was wet with dew, icing her bare feet once more as she kicked off into the mist. The air of the dawn sky was so fresh in Ginny's lungs as she flew up to the center of the pitch, just able to make out the frame of Harry flying beside her as the first flecks of the new morning sunrise hit the boy's face.

The first two weeks of August passed by with nights on the porch swing or in the sky. The pair would while away their insomniatic nights together, though Ginny was careful to bring her own blanket from there on. Cuddling and sleeping with Harry by accident once was something that she wouldn't kick herself over, but repeated blanket sharing was usually frowned upon for a girl with a boyfriend, and above that, it was dangerous.

The obvious truth was, Ginny was feeling a strong resurgance of feelings toward the raven haired boy, which was completely stupid and unacceptable. For one, Ginny had a boyfriend, and a great one at that, one that she really liked. She chalked off most of her feelings toward Harry to the fact that Dean wasn't currently present and she was lonely or something like that. But a deeper part of her stayed her distance because she knew feelings for Harry were useless and should be avoided at all costs. Regardless of their newfound bond, Harry would never see her as anything other than a friend, something that she had wholeheartedly accepted years ago. And they had become great friends at that she repeated to herself as she succeeded in pushing the old rogue emotions down into their comfortable and silent hiding place over the coming days.

Regardless, late night talks on the back porch were becoming her favorite thing about the day.

"Completely true," she stated clearly one cloudy and extremely dark night in early August as Harry laughed.

"You mean to tell me that Fred and George had Ron convinced that he was a girl?"

"Yep," she said, "For an entire two weeks when he was five. The only time in the entirety of my childhood where I had someone to play dolls with. It was great, Fred and George smuggled me sweets if I would play along. I even loaned them dresses to put him in once."

"You did that when you were four!?"

"I was the little sister of Fred and George Weasley. Of course I did that when I was four. And I got sweets, and I got a laugh, and I got a sister to play dolls with," she said, laughing as she sucked on a Sugarquill.

"Did Ron look nice in your dresses?" he asked through stitches of laughter.

"Better than me. I was a bit of a tomboy. I'd get bored with dolls and take his training broom for a ride while he continued playing tea time."

That seemed to be too much for Harry as he buckled over in laughter, his head between his knees, "Ginny, thank you," he said, patting her knee blindly, "You have given me so much blackmail worthy information. I will never be able to repay you," his head shot up, a mirthful look playing in his eyes, "Are there pictures?"

"Unfortunately, no. Mum destroyed them all when she realized what the boys did. She was quite nonplussed."

"I can imagine."

"Did you ever do anything equally evil to Dudley?"

Harry looked deep in thought for a moment, "Not anything that bad. I did set a snake on him once."

Very late, on the night of her birthday, the two shared the last of her cake under the brightly star strewn sky.

"I swear, hand across my heart. I saw Snape kiss Madam Pomfrey," she said as she popped a rather large piece into her mouth. Her mum made fantastic red velvet cake. It could rival Fleur's chocolate souffle any day.

Harry's face contorted into a cute grimace, "I really hope that isn't true. I've let that woman touch me. Tell me what you saw again, exactly?"

"Okay, I was in the hospital wing the morning we were brought back from the Ministry, and I woke up to Snape's voice. Something no one wants to wake up to, yeah?" he nodded with a sour look, "Now, mind you, I was completely confused because I had absolutely no idea where I was, but when I finally opened my eyes I saw his cloak and her little hospital hat. He was handing her a box of something and I could swear I saw him kiss her."

"Okay. I'm just going to chalk that up to you being completely off your rocker after taking a very strong stunning spell to the face...and the box could have been a new store of potions, maybe all the stuff for Hermione?"

"You have to take the fun out of everything, don't you Harry? But if you'd seen it, I bet that's what you'd think, too," she challenged.

"Probably not. I don't think Snape is capable of attraction."

"That's fair, I guess," she said quietly as she passed him the spoon. They were silent as Harry finished the last of the cake.

"Did you have a good birthday?" he asked, setting the plate on the ground and looking up at her.

"Yeah, it was really quite good. I'm glad Luna was able to come, I didn't think she'd be able to make it. But mum said she could come if she flooed directly home before dark."

"What was that she gave you?"

"Oh, a butterbeer cap shirt. She's been working on it for awhile, actually. Fred and George talked to her about maybe making a line for the shop. I'll definitely wear it next time I have to duel, that thing will probably deflect any curse sent at it," she said, smiling.

"Good thinking," Harry said as he sat up, a medium sized blue box in his hands.

"What's that?"

"Your birthday present," he said quietly as he handed it over. She stared at him, shocked.

"You got me a birthday present?" she asked in awe.

"Yeah, er, sorry I didn't give it to you earlier. I had to have it owled here kind of last minute and then I had to wrap it, so it wasn't ready."

"Oh, um, that's okay," she said, not taking her eyes off of his suddenly shy face.

"Well, maybe you should open it," he motioned after a brief and awkward silence.

"Oh! Right, er..." she slipped off the top of the box and looked inside in the dark. It was hard to tell what was inside. Sticking her hand in, she felt a brush and a piece of round metal that felt like a container, "I can't tell what's in here..." she said, squinting at the letters on the small round container, "Does that say 'primrose'? Harry...erm...did you buy me perfume?"

"Oh Merlin, no!" he squeaked, "It's a broom maintenance kit. Hermione bought me one for my birthday a couple of years back and it's the most useful present I've ever gotten. I noticed your broom could do with a polish, so I thought you'd like this,"

She beamed at him, "Thanks Harry!" she looked back down, "But, this does say 'primrose', doesn't it?"

"Er, maybe. I bought the girl's maintenance kit, it came with scented polishes, you know, if you want your broom to smell like a garden or baby powder, or something..." he fumbled.

"This is fantastic, Harry, thanks!" she said as she began to dig around in the box. Everything she would need to spruce up her broom was in the kit, it was definitely the deluxe package. She laughed as she pulled out a large bunch of glittery ribbons, "Just don't expect me to add streamers to my broom. I have an image to maintain."

"I'd never think of it. I mean, I can't have my best chaser flying around with girly ribbons on her broom, now can I?"

She stopped, looking up at him with a hopeful and questioning gleam in her eye, "Excuse me?" she said slowly. This was news to Ginny's ears, though she had been hoping to hear it. Harry had recently found out that he had been made Quidditch captain, fueling her hope in making the house team.

He smiled, "Well, I figure that a whole summer of flying with you is enough of a try out for the chaser position. And I can't imagine I'll find a better flyer or a more creative scorer."

The box lay discarded as Ginny jumped the length of the porch swing and brought Harry into a bone cracking hug, "That there was the best birthday present I could possibly get," she said as she pulled back and smiled at him, "Though, I'm definitely still going to try out. I'm not taking the post that easily. I like the competition. Oh, thank you!" she pulled him back into another exuberant hug, and before she knew it she had laid a hard kiss on his lower cheek, the corners of their mouths just barely touching.

She froze for the slightest second as a harsh and forbidden electricity shot through her body. Suddenly, red light after red light sprung off in her mind, she pulled away quickly trying to mask her major mistake by laughing awkwardly as she cursed and kicked herself inside of her head.

Harry recovered first, "I'm really glad you like your present. I had no idea what to get you. I've never shopped for a girl before except for Hermione, and with her you just buy a book."

"Yeah," Ginny said quickly, nodding at the dangerous boy next to her, looking for an escape, "Well, Harry. I'm...umm...I need to run upstairs and write a letter to my Dean...er, my boyfriend, Dean," she stuttered.

"Oh, okay," he said, confusion traced in his tone, "Good night then."

"Night, Harry," She feigned a smile, "Thanks again, it's really wonderful."

"No problem," Harry said as she snuck back into the house.

'It's too much,' she thought as she snuck into her dark room, close to collapse. There was far too much inside of her that had reacted to that slight and accidental brushing of lips. And it hurt. And it panicked. Harry was not safe for her. She had Dean, and Dean was great, and any bubbling of old feelings for Harry could only wreck any good that she had. Because Harry would never be hers.

She was just plain old Ginny Weasley. To allow any piece of her heart to believe that she still had a sliver of chance with Harry was out of the question. It was something she had accepted long ago. She sighed as she crawled quickly under her covers with her parchment, candle and quill.

Nineteen days to Hogwarts. Nineteen days to Dean. Nineteen days to the end of her gripping senility.

_Dean,_

_I really can not wait to see you. Nineteen days by my calculations. I really wish you could have come to my birthday today, but my mum was really uncomfortable with people flooing from addresses she didn't know. No weak links in the security around my house, I guess. Thanks for the Weird Sisters t-shirt. It was a bit big but I had my mum do a little shrinking charm on it, so it's perfect. Luna came and gave me a shirt made entirely of butterbeer caps, it's pretty intense. And then Hermione gave me a broom maintenance kit so my broom is going to be the most sparkly one in the tower now. She can actually fly a broom now, I'm pretty impressed. Just so you know, Harry got made Quidditch captain so better start brushing up on your chaser skills! _

_Again, I really can't wait to see you and get a really big Dean hug and kiss. It will make things so much easier. You don't even know._

_Yours,_

_Ginny_


	31. Hex of the Heart

**Hi all! I'm back. Thank Merlin. Just so you know, you might want to jump back and reread the last chapter, I added a bit at the end to help with the flow. **

* * *

The scarlet gleam and steamy fog of the Hogwarts Express was a wonderfully welcome sight. The simple act of shoving her cart through the barrier onto Platform 9 3/4 felt strangely akin to breaking from a cage. The Burrow, and her life inside of it, had become much too small over the last few weeks of holiday. There had been little to no escape. No place to be alone, to think, to dream. The wards around the property had begun to encroach upon her like intruding and enclosing walls, cutting Ginny off from all that was outside. Thus trapping her with herself, the same few people, the same feelings.

Her ever confusing feelings. The feelings that she was outwardly choosing not to feel. After her odd, accidental, half kiss with Harry on her birthday, she realized the necessity of a choice. A choice between Dean, and a fantastic budding relationship, or another fruitless attempt at Harry.

The choice was obviously a simple one. Though terribly hard to execute.

Distancing herself stealthily away from her family, the knot in her stomach was tight as she scanned through the dense steam, eyeing the crowd for her salvation. Her hopeful sign of freedom from the confusion of her heart. For the face she had been waiting to see for at least two weeks, if not the whole summer, she wasn't quite sure.

"Ginny!"

She whipped around, a huge smile jumping across her face as Dean sprinted up to her. His smile was every bit what she needed.

"Hi, Dean," She said as he pulled her into a strong, warm hug, "How are you?"

"Better now," he smiled as he placed a quick and chaste kiss on her lips, "You look tan."

She laughed, "Well...other than the fact that my skin definitely does not tan, it burns, I guess I'll take that as a compliment?"

"Good, you should. You want to get on the train? I have Seamus saving a compartment for us."

"Oh, great! Umm...but I'll meet you there. I've got to say goodbye to my family."

"Okay, but let me take your trunk, you shouldn't be carrying it," he said kindly as he reached for it. She stopped him.

"No, I can manage, really."

"Hands off it, Ginny. I insist," to which she sighed and gave up. With that he pulled her into another quick hug, trailing his hand in hers as he darted off to get onto the train, her trunk and all.

"Well, things between the two of you seem to have picked up right where they left off," Hermione said kindly when Ginny returned to the overly large Weasley throng, saturated with Aurors for added safety.

"Yeah," Ginny smiled, "It's nice."

"I still can't believe you're with that git, Gin. What are you thinking?" Ron quipped from behind her as he lugged his trunk off of the cart.

"Ron, how many times have I had to explain to you, he's not a git and keep your nose out of my business."

"I'm just saying--"

"Oh! Look at the time Ron, we need to get to the prefect compartment," Hermione said quickly, her hand wrapping strongly around Ron's forearm, "We don't want to be late." And with that Hermione led a grumbling Ron off to the train, sending a quick wink back at Ginny.

With nothing left to do, Ginny bound up to her mum and hugged her goodbye quickly. "Be safe, dearest," Mrs. Weasley whispered into Ginny's ear as she enveloped her into the hug. And as quickly as she was pulled in, Mrs. Weasley spun her around, "Now go get on the train before it pulls away," she quipped as she swatted Ginny playfully on the behind.

"Mum!"

"Write me!" She called as Ginny rolled her eyes through a smile. Grabbing her broom and Arnold the Pygmy Puff, her new lovely little pet courtesy of her brother's store, she trotted up and through the entrance of the train right as the warning whistle sounded.

"Ginny! Hi! Nice summer?" Yelled a blonde Hufflepuff, whom Ginny had never spoken to, from an open compartment, catching her off guard.

"Er, yeah, thanks...you?"

"Hi Ginny!" screeched Colin Creevey a little ways ahead of her in the line of people moving through train.

"Hi Colin!" But it wasn't just him...or the Hufflepuff girl. All around her, eyes were glancing in her direction, people she had never met were discreetly pointing at her and whispering to friends. Confusion gave way to clarity and she groaned silently, realizing why. Ginny was a new Department of Mysteries celebrity. Living in forced seclusion through the summer had really taken a toll on her realization of the outside world. Though she knew that the Wizarding world knew about what had occurred at the Ministry the prior spring, it didn't really dawn on her that every student in Hogwarts would have it in the forefront of their mind. Unlike them, it was something she was trying to forget.

And then she felt a tap on her shoulder, sighing under the new and unexpected popularity she turned, only to see Harry.

She froze slightly in his gaze. _'It has to start now'_ she told herself as she looked at his serene face.

"Fancy finding a compartment?" he asked. His eyes were expectant as they held hers. She gulped. This was going to be harder than she thought. Thinking hard of Dean, thinking of her made up mind, thinking of her sanity, she put on a kind smile and told him that she was sharing a compartment with Dean and then shot away quickly down the corridor. The less time she was around him, the better.

In the back of her mind, she could swear she saw a hint of disappointment in his eyes. But of course, she reminded herself, she was making that up completely.

"Ginny!" called out a familiar voice as she passed a compartment. Smiling in relief, she entered to see Dean, seated next to Seamus. Across from them in the almost full compartment were Parvati Patil, Lavender Brown...and Zacharias Smith. Dean scooted to the center of the bench seat, patting the spot by the window. She obliged after setting her broom and Arnold in the carriage above her.

It was...well...it was a bit weird to be in the compartment. Looking around, she realized that she didn't really know anyone all that well, yet Seamus and the girls welcomed her warmly. As she sat, she felt Dean's strong arm snake protectively around her waist, pulling her in slightly to him. It felt nice. An awkward pause settled over the space.

"How was your summer, Ginny?" Lavender jumped in.

"Umm...it was...fine, thanks. And yours?" she asked as she repositioned herself within Dean's arm.

"Oh, it was really good! How's your brother?"

"Er...which one?" she asked, mixing confusion with amusement.

"Oh...well, Ron, of course," a imperceptibly small giggle emitted from Parvati at Lavender's response.

"He's...fine?"

Parvati sighed, smiling, "Is he dating Hermione yet?"

"Par!" Lavender growled.

"I don't think so..." Ginny said, an odd feeling coursing through her veins. Were girls asking about her brother? The thought sent a creepy shiver down her spine, "I missed you Dean," she said, turning to her boyfriend in hopes of closing off further Ron related conversation.

The next bit of time passed by nicely. Dean and Ginny caught up about the summer and random things as Seamus chatted with the girls. Zacharias stared out the window of the compartment door glumly. He obviously hadn't been able to find another seat on the train. Every so often, while Ginny talked closely with Dean, a person or two would walk by the window of the compartment door, point her out and whisper or stare.

"I really wish they would stop that," she sighed quietly to Dean.

"You know they just want to know what happened," Zacharias said darkly from his corner. Ginny turned to him slowly in surprise.

"Excuse me?"

"Everybody just wants to know what you guys did. Why you were there," he said, his eyes dark with his matter of fact and accusing tone.

All talk in the compartment hushed suddenly, eyes darting anxiously from Zacharias to Ginny.

"Thanks Zacharias," she said, trying not to seethe, "But I think I had that figured out on my own."

"Oh," he said, surprised, "Well, I wasn't sure. Because you haven't told anyone."

"...and that's my prerogative," she stated clearly, hoping to end the conversation right then and there.

But Zacharias wasn't having any of it, "Just tell me what happened. We're all in the D.A.," he said, motioning around the compartment, attempting to smile, "We're all in this together."

"I don't remember you being in anything with us. You just complained the entire time about Harry's credibility," she accused.

"Did he really fight You-Know-Who?" he asked, straightening up.

"Ginny..." Dean said quietly, but she shook him off.

"Which time?" she challenged.

Zacharias rolled his eyes animatedly, "I don't care about all other other times--"

"Well, you should," she said, her hand tensing around her wand protruding from her pocket.

"Whatever," he waved her off with a gesture that made her seethe openly, "You know what I mean. Did he fight him at the Ministry."

"Zacharias, with all due respect," she said slowly with all of the control she could muster, "It's none of your business."

"It's everybody's business!" he cried, tensing as he rose from his seat, "Is he the '_chosen one'_?" He mocked, rolling his eyes as he used his fingers as quotations, "Did you hear any '_prophecy_'?"

She gaped at him.

"I know it's all a huge joke. Harry being _'The Chosen One'_," he laughed, "I just want to hear you say it."

Ginny brushed off Dean's attempts at keeping her seated as she sprung to her feet and advanced on Zacharias, wand pointed directly into his neck.

"Don't Talk About Harry Like That." She all but growled, "You don't know anything about him."

Ginny had Zacharias pinned against the compartment door. His eyed widened in shock at the small and seemingly deadly firecracker pinning him.

"Ginny?" Dean pleaded yet again, his voice right in her ear. She didn't hear him.

"You wouldn't," Zacharias challenged.

"Try me," she whispered, her wand was jutted under his chin. Her mouth itching to speak the hex.

"Why do you care so much what I say about him, anyway?" he asked suddenly, his eyes lighting up. He then gasped dramatically and a terribly mocking tone exited his lips "Are you in lo--"

But before he could utter another breath, Ginny had struck. Like a knee jerk reaction, she had floored him with an extremely precise and undeniably powerful bat bogey hex. He toppled against the compartment door, unhinging it. A high pitched screech emitted from him as he fell back into the corridor, his face seething with massive and fast bat bogeys. He writhed.

Before Ginny had moved, before Ginny had even breathed, a new voice echoed through the compartment, jarring the already shocked inhabitants.

"Oho!" it boomed as an extremely large man peeked down at the writhing boy, "Did she do this to you?"

Zacharias obviously didn't answer. The man looked into the compartment. Ginny gulped, wand still raised, body still in an attack stance, being caught red handed was an understatement.

"What's your name?" the man asked, looking at Ginny with an indescribable expression.

"...Ginny Weasley?" she stuttered, wand arm still high in the air.

"Well, Miss Ginny Weasley. This happens to be, hands down, the very best Bat Bogey Hex I've ever seen," he beckoned for her to take a step closer to him as he kneeled down over the bat bogey filled face of Zacharias Smith.

"I mean, look here," he pointed to Zacharias's nose, "Do you see the size of these? And the frequency with which they're emitting. It's really quite extraordinary!"

"Er... thank you?" she managed.

He laughed as he straightened his short frame from the floor, it didn't make much of a difference, "Miss Weasley, I'm Professor Slughorn. And I am so pleased to make your acquaintance that I wonder if you might accompany me to a little lunch party I'm throwing in my compartment in a few minutes. Hex work like this is rare. I just hope this poor boy deserved it."

"Oh, he definitely did," she said, her voice getting back some of its humored color.

"Well, that's that then. Shall we?" he asked, stepping back to allow Ginny room to exit. She turned in hesitation, looking at Dean. All he could do was give her a stunned shrug. She really didn't want to leave Dean, but who would turn down a Professor that didn't only ignore her blatant breaking of the rules, but commended the precision with which she broke them. It was necessary to stay on his good side. Waving slightly to the compartment, she hesitantly exited. Carefully stepping over Zacharias's legs as she did so. Slughorn began to walk at once.

"Er..ummm..Professor?" she stuttered, "Shouldn't we give him the counter hex?"

"And she has compassion!" He said as he threw his arms up in the air dramatically. Ginny nodded and turned, looking at Zacharias for a quick second, and enjoying the payback he was receiving on his face. Thinking he might have had enough, she muttered the counter curse and followed Professor Slughorn down the narrow corridor.

Professor Slughorn stopped a short way away and opened his compartment door. He stepped out of the way, allowing Ginny ladies first. Ginny entered hesitantly. The large compartment held only two older boys whom she didn't know. Though, judging by the distance they had put between themselves, she could guess that one was a Slytherin and one a Gryffindor. She took a corner seat by the window, hoping to be out of the way.

"Gentlemen, I'm sure you know Miss Weasley," Slughorn said jovially as he took a seat in the center of the compartment. He was met with two silent and blank faces, "Or maybe not. Miss Weasley, this is Blaise Zabini," he pointed to his left, Blaise made no comment nor eye contact. He was definitely the Slytherin.

"And this here is Cormac McLaggen."

"Hi Ginny," Cormac said, seemingly recognizing her face.

"Er..hello," she said. This was one of the oddest situations she had ever been in. Slughorn turned to her as he addressed the others.

"I just had the pleasure of watching this young girl flawlessly take down a boy with a perfect Bat Bogey Hex," he turned to her, "I didn't know that Hex was back in popularity."

"I don't think it is, actually," she said, "It's just the one that my brothers hate the most, so I learned how to do it in order to keep them off my back."

"Sounds like you have some tough brothers."

"No. I just have seven of them," she said with a hint of a wry smile.

"Oho! Weasley...Weasley...the name sounds familiar. Did I have your father?" he asked, tapping his mind to remember.

"I think you had both of my parents. Arthur Weasley and, well, her name would have been Molly Prewett," she said quickly. This was really not a conversation she was wanting to have. She was feeling a bit of a brown noser.

"Prewett! Oh, I remember her. I was always so fond of her brother, Fabian. Fantastic at Defense, he was. A shame the tragedy that took him down. But he was a fighter. Weasley, can't place it..."

"I'm not surprised," she heard Blaise say under his breath from his corner. She glared at him, he returned in kind.

"Miss Weasley, what year and house are you?" he asked, either ignoring or missing Blaise's comment.

"I'm a fifth year Gryffindor."

"Ah, Gryffindor. That fits you. You know, at first glance, and well, first impression, you actually remind me a bit of an old student of mine. Firecracker like yourself. Very witty Gryffindor, you wouldn't want to cross her. Red head, too. Do you know Harry Potter?" he asked.

"Quite well, yeah," she said, hiding a grimace.

"Well! That's wonderful! You remind me of his mother quite a bit," she felt her eyes widen, "Lily Evans was one of my favorite students," and as Ginny felt her face go a beet red and her palms release a little sweat, Slughorn's tone changed, "He actually should be on his way..."

Blaise snorted as the compartment opened again, another strange boy entering. The boy looked around sheepishly and took a seat next to Blaise.

"And you must be Marcus Belby!" Slughorn jovially sang.

But Ginny was no longer present for his introduction. She was much too caught up with the odd comparison that had just been laid on her. She was like Harry's mum? Was that a good thing or a bad thing? She really didn't know, but it felt like an odd fit, none the less.

Speak of the devil. The compartment door hitched open one last time. And in entered Harry, along with Neville. He caught her eye with surprise. And a little smile. Neville gave a little wave, which she happily returned.

Though she was happy to no longer be without friendly company in such an alien situation, she had to laugh at the fact that though she had done everything in her power to distance herself from Harry on the train ride...she still ended up with him. Lost in her roller coaster of thoughts, she didn't really listen to much of the impending conversations Slughorn was throwing at the occupants of the compartment. She sat silently, her eyes involuntarily scrutinizing Harry as he talked with Slughorn.

In the light of the Hogwarts Express, and not in the Burrow, she was able to see what she had missed over the summer. His familiar face had chiseled, almost all of his boyish features were on the path to disappearance. He looked strong and lean. Probably from a full summer of her mother's cooking. He was no longer the stringy wiry boy that she had been infatuated with when she was younger. The scar on his forehead was now accompanied by the scar running down the inside of his forearm, the pair signifying the death and rebirth of the same man through Harry's body. Yet, somehow, through all of this, he had maintained a piece of innocence.

She looked down at herself. At her unmarked body. But, she corrected herself, it was marked. There were definitely things there that hadn't been there before. But unlike Harry, they were made by nature, not by outside forces. Just as he was saying goodbye to his boyish features, she could feel the same happening in her. The button at the bust of her blouse was pulling a bit, just as it was on all of her other shirts. She tugged on it self consciously as she took in the fit of her jeans. Her muggle jeans had become tight in the hip, yet loose in the waist. Her hair even felt fuller, less stringy, just as her body. All of these things would not have been noticeable if not for the fact that she hadn't been able to buy new clothes during her summer of seclusion. It was all very clear that she too was leaving adolescence.

Exactly, she reminded herself as she came full circle in her thought, she was leaving adolesence. And with her adolesence, she needed to leave behind her childish crush on Harry. Though she had made her mind up three weeks prior, it was still eating at her. A devil on her shoulder telling her that she could never give up on Harry. But oh, how she wanted to!

She almost cursed the fact that he had spent the summer with them at the Burrow. But she quickly took it back, the summer with him had been divine. But then, she reminded herself as she listened to the wheels of the train below her, each second she was getting closer to Hogwarts. Each chug after chug of the train engine was taking her closer to her solace of being able to fully let go. If she could only get out of this compartment and off the train.

And at that, Harry glanced at her as she still studied his face, roguefully catching her eye. Slughorn had moved onto Neville. Biting his lip, Harry smiled as he rolled his eyes in her direction. She did the same, causing him to laugh as he looked deeply at her. And he held her gaze, causing her traitor heart to palpitate within the emerald, before he hesitantly looked away.


	32. Blind Chasing Game

If there was one great thing about Dean, it was that the boy could kiss.

For the third time that week, Ginny found herself in the same abandoned corridor, up against the same cold stone wall, with the same strong hands weaving gently through her hair. It was like taking a nap. A quick and rejuvenating little exit from the every day hustle and bustle of being a Hogwarts student.

Little exits were necessary for her sanity, she found quickly after starting her OWL level classes. Having been back at Hogwarts for only a week and a half, it was unbelievable to feel how much pressure had already been applied to her in regards to schoolwork and OWL preparation. Hermione was already knee deep in the arduous process of drawing up study schedules for her.

So it wasn't terribly surprising that an escape from the day was welcomed with open arms. The corridor had been Dean's idea. Whether it be during lunch time, after their last afternoon class, or directly before curfew, they were never intruded upon. The corridor was so out of the way, so useless within the layout of the castle, that it was almost as though it had been placed within the castle for the express purpose of allowing for uninhibited snogging sessions. And Ginny would have thought so if it hadn't been for the paintings that sighed at the end of the corridor, lamenting the misfortune of their placement as they grumbled about watching students snog.

"This has to be my favorite class of the day," Dean said, smiling against her lips.

"Hmm?"

"Studying you is so much better than potions or charms," he murmured into her jawline, "though you definitely do have charms of your own."

She snorted, "You did not just say that."

"Yeah, I did," he said laughing lightly. Ginny pulled her head back gently and allowed her hands to slowly press him away from her.

"I'd love to continue this lovely lunch time soiree, but I do actually have to get to charms class, since you brought it up."

He sighed in response as he smoothed down her tousled hair, "Remind me never to bring up charms during lunch ever again."

"Dean, you're going to make me fail my O.W.L.S. if I remind you of that," she laughed softly as she slid her way out from against the wall. He quickly caught her arm.

"Five more minutes?" he pleaded, his face close to hers, his strong musk filling her senses.

But it wasn't enough, "Nope," she replied, smiling roguishly as she removed her arm from his grasp.

Dean let out an audible sigh, "Can I at least walk you to class?" he asked with a minor hint of dejection. She nodded as she made for the end of the corridor. Dean jovially swept up her hand in his and matched her stride, "Hey, do you want to practice flying before dinner? Trials are only two days away."

"Sure," she nodded, swinging her hand lightly in his as they stealthily exited the corridor from behind a large, concealing tapestry. Flying sounded like a fantastic idea, "I can't stay out too long or Hermione will have my head, but I can fly for a bit."

"Great, I need someone to keep while I go through some chaser moves," he said while thankfully pecking her cheek.

She stopped, "Huh?"

"Oh, you know, I figure you need some practice keeping, too. So practicing together would make just make sense," he said lightly. She narrowed her eyes and shook her head as if trying to remove a whackspurt.

"Dean...umm...I'm not trying out to be keeper..."

"Huh?" Dean asked blankly before a wry and infuriating smirk formed on his lips, "You know you can't be seeker, right? Harry's back."

"Yeah, I caught that," Ginny replied a bit dryly, "That's why I'm trying out for chaser."

Dean blinked erratically and his hand ceased contact with hers, "You can't try out for chaser. I'm trying out for chaser."

A tiny laugh erupted from Ginny , "You do know there are three chaser spots, right?"

"Well yeah, but one of them is already sort of filled. Katie Bell hasn't left yet," he said, causing Ginny to bite her tongue. It probably wasn't the best time to tell him that very possibly TWO of the spots were filled as Harry had already kind of offered her the slot.

"That leaves two open. And us being TWO people, that could fit," she shrugged and began walking again.

"Well, Ginny, er...do you think you're made out to be a chaser?" he asked suddenly.

She stopped again, more abruptly this time, "What is that supposed to mean?"

He gulped, "You know, you're just, well, you're really small, and--"

Ginny felt her hands ball up into tight little fists as annoyance started to bubble through her veins, "Yet you thought I was trying out to be keeper? Other than the fact that that's my BROTHER'S position, I'm definitely too small to be keeper. Chaser I can do, Dean."

"Okay...well...do you still want to fly with me today? I could give you some pointers, you know, help you out a little if you really want to fly chaser."

"Wow Dean," she said loudly, her annoyance bubbling over, "Why don't you fly by yourself today? And I'll fly by myself. And we'll see on Saturday if I really needed your 'pointers'. But for now, I'm going to be late to class," she said, turning on her heel and picking up her pace as he lagged behind.

"Ginny!" he whined, quickly matching her stride and attempted to catch her stiff swinging arm, "I'm sorry, that was rude of me. I guess I was just surprised you'd want to fly chaser."

"Why? Because you want to fly chaser?" she retorted darkly.

"Probably," he stammered before finally catching her arm and stopping her, "Ginny, I'm sorry," she fought the urge to roll her eyes and instead looked him in the eye. To her surprise, he did look a bit sorry, "Please fly with me today? It'll be fun. We can, well, we can do passing drills and stuff then, you don't need to keep for me."

She sighed, allowing a bit of her annoyance to subside with the exhalation, "I wasn't going to keep for you, anyway," she paused. His bottom lip was slightly jutted out almost in a pout, as if it was silently begging for forgiveness. Resolve was weakened, "Okay Dean, I'll fly with you. If only to show you that I know what I'm doing," she added with a little smirk.

"Great," he smiled, letting go of her hand, "And now I'll leave you to Charms," he said, indicating the classroom door directly behind her, "Do you want to meet in the entrance after the last class?"

"No, let's meet in the common room. I have to fetch my broom. Okay?"

"Okay," he said kindly, his eyes slightly wary of another flair up from the red head, "Have a good class," he said, planting a quick kiss on her cheek.

"Thanks," she smiled slightly, the last vestige of her annoyance fading with the kiss.

Regardless of the frustrating talk, the idea of flying after classes was divine. She hadn't had a chance to fly since returning to school. Thus there had been no escape in the way of wind rushing through her hair, her natural home. The afternoon dragged by slowly, tick tocking away until she finally found herself outside with Dean on the far end of the lake in the early fall breeze.

"You know Ginny, if you mount from the left you can--"

"Dean, I've been doing this since I was six. I think I've got the basics," she cut in abruptly as she mounted her broom from the right and shot up into the air. Dean followed after a moment.

"Okay, I think we should start with passing drills," he said as he clumsily pulled up next to her.

"Don't you think we should do a warm up fly first? I mean, neither of us have been on a broom for a couple of weeks."

"I feel fine," he said with a slightly smug air, "But if you need a warm up lap or two, Ginny, be my guest," he said as he tossed the quaffle a couple of feet into the air. Ginny's superior reflexes snatched the ball before Dean could.

"Nope, lets just work on passing drills," she said blandly as she turned to fly to the other end of the clearing.

"Hey you up there! Got room for two more!?" boomed a voice from the ground below. Ginny stopped in her broom tracks and looked down. Harry and Ron were at ground level, in the process of mounting their brooms, a stray quaffle left behind them on the ground. A quick and confusing set of emotions coursed through Ginny. A mix of frustration, hesitation, and elation. Harry was up to the couple before she had even had a chance to turn to Dean.

"Hi Ginny," he said kindly, "How are you, Dean?"

"Oh, not bad Harry. We were just about to start passing drills," Dean said with an oddly important tone as he put his hand out to shake Harry's. Harry, taken aback, hesitated, and shook it quickly.

"I was just flying that way," Ginny said quietly, trying to shake off her surprise in her sudden change of plan.

"Ron and I were going to practice his keeping but you guys are in our normal spot. But then I thought, if you guys don't mind, we could all help Ron practice his keeping. I figure you guys are working on chaser moves, right?"

"Yeah--"

"We sure are, Harry. Definitely," Dean nodded enthusiastically.

"Have you guys done a warm up lap yet?" Harry asked.

"You know, Harry, we were just about to," Dean said quickly as he repositioned on his broom and took off.

Ginny couldn't help but laugh as she pulled up closer to Harry, "I think my boyfriend is trying to butter you up."

"Really?" he asked, looking confused.

"Oh yeah, you should have heard him just a few minutes ago. He just told me before you got into the air that the didn't need a warm up lap, but if I needed one, he'd wait," she shrugged.

"He's trying to show off to me? I've known him for six years!" Harry laughed.

"That's what it looks like," Ginny laughed, shooting an amused look at Harry. Oddly enough, she was happy to see him. Happy that someone in the air was going to treat her as competent player, "I do need that warm up lap though. Up for a race, Potter?"

"Do you need your fifteen second head start?" he jibed as he nudged her playfully.

"...no, only ten," she said, Harry laughed loudly.

"Go ahead Gin, I'll be right behind you," and with that Ginny sped off around the pitch. Before she knew it, Harry had pulled up right next to her in her fly. It was fantastic.  
A sudden feeling rushed her heart the way the wind was rushing her hair. It was as though the two of them had escaped the walls of Hogwarts and were just back on the pitch at the Burrow together, as if nothing had changed. There was no O.W.L.S. in the sky, no homework, no gossip, no Dean, just Harry and Ginny racing carefree across the sky. As simple and perfect as could be. As always, Ginny was plastered against her broom to cut the wind in order to keep up with Harry. It always frustrated her, as she was a very fast flyer herself. Which was proved as Harry and Ginny easily lapped Dean on their way to the other end of the clearing. As they reached the end, Harry easily scooted out of their shared pace and parked himself. Ginny followed.

"I've missed that!" Harry said exuberantly, "You're the only Weasley who can give me a run for my money."

Ginny smiled wide eyed, "Thanks. You know I would have beat you this time, but I was carrying the quaffle."

"Have a good warm up lap, Dean?" Harry said kindly as Dean pulled up to them, panting slightly. Only Ginny was able to detect the very subtle amount of teasing coming from Harry's tone.

"Oh, fantastic. The wind really is a challenge today, yeah?" Dean said.

"Really?" Ginny asked, feeling the obviously light breeze playing with her hair, "I think it's rather perfect."

"So I was thinking that we should just play for awhile and Challenge Ron a bit. Are you guys up for that?" Harry jutted in abruptly, attempting to swipe the quaffle from Ginny's arms.

"Sounds good to me," Ginny said, holding tight to the quaffle against Harry's strong hands. Ginny proceeded to fly to her right. Dean and Harry stayed where the were, "Well, it would do you guys some good to spread out, you know," Ginny chimed back as she got into position.

With a quick pass to Harry, the game was on. Volleying back and forth above the green, they quickly made their way to Ron's goal. Ron easily blocked the first attempt from Harry and the three flew back to the opposite end and started again.

Back and forth, back and forth, Ginny and Harry flew across the pitch. Having played two a side the entire summer, Ginny had never actually played with Harry as her partner. It was too bad he wasn't a chaser, their rhythm was perfect. Ginny quickly ended the volley with a smile and a curve shot right past Ron. Her begrudged brother grunted as he turned to retrieve the newly scored ball.

"Just checking your weak spots!" Ginny chimed as she swiped her hair out of her face.

"Nice one, Ginny!" Harry yelped as he pulled up to her and gave her a high five, "I've never seen a spin like that before."

"Thanks, Potter!" she said, beaming at him as she blew her hair out of her face. He smiled broadly.

"Hey, uh, guys," Dean stuttered he pulled up into their moment.

"Yeah, Dean?" Harry asked.

"Could you, uh, pass to me once in a while? I haven't touched the quaffle once," he said quietly.

Ginny's eyes widened as she thought back to the last two volleys. To be honest, she'd even forgotten Dean was there. "Oh! I'm sorry!" Ginny piped, scooting closer to her boyfriend, "Harry and I, we're just used to, uh, being in the sky together. You know, I've never flown with you before. We just fell into a rhythm, I guess"

"Yeah mate, sorry about that," Harry said as Ron lobbed the quaffle his way. He quickly caught it and returned to the opposite side of the clearing. Ginny and Dean followed.

"I'm sorry I doubted you, Ginny. You're..well, you're really good..." Dean managed to say.

Ginny smiled widely, "Thanks."

"Other than the fact that you're a quaffle hog, you know," He teased as they pulled up to Harry. Harry handed Dean the quaffle.

"Why don't you start this time," Harry said before he shot forward. Dean threw to Harry, Harry to Dean, Dean to Ginny, Ginny to Harry, all the way across the make shift pitch. Ginny criticizingly sized Dean's skills up, now that she was aware of his existence. Dean wasn't all that bad, to tell the truth. His form was a little weak and his reactions a bit slow, but what he lacked in from and speed he made up for with a nimble broom quality and a strong arm. It was possible he'd make the cut.

The afternoon sun began its descent as the trio made their final fly across the pitch, Ginny and Harry accidently hogging the ball again. After their last unsuccessful attempt at scoring against Ron, Harry called it a day.

"Alright, I'm famished. Ron, have you had enough?"

"Yeah mate, I guess," Ron said, pulling up to the group.

"Are you guys coming?" he asked as he roguishly ran his fingers through his hair.

"Yea--" Ginny started.

"Nah, I think I'm going to stay out here a bit longer," Dean said in a distant voice.

"Well, have fun. Thanks Ginny!" Harry said, nudging her playfully before he shot straight down to the ground.

"Yeah, er, well," Ron scratched his head, "bye," he said quickly, obviously wanting to escape alone time with his sister and her boyfriend.

Ginny tossed the quaffle in the air, "Why do you want to stay out here?"

"teahgmeeh," Dean muttered under his breath, his eyes low and as he picked at a chipping piece of his broom handle.

"Huh?" she asked, her eyes averted down to the ground at the tiny form of Harry unmounting his broom.

Dean sighed loudly before nervously biting his lip, "Teach me. Will you teach me some moves," he stated in an annoyed tone.

"Oh! Er, I guess? I mean, what do you want to learn?" she asked, wholly taken aback.

"Anything," he said, "It's just...I'm rubbish compared to you guys."

Her heart suddenly softened completely, "Oh, no you're not," she said kindly as she pulled up closer to his dejected face, "I mean, your form could use a little work, I guess, but you're really not bad at all."

"Help me with my form then," Dean said quietly.

"Okay," she said, scooting up next to him and handing him the quaffle, "Sure. Are you ready, then?"

And that is exactly what she did. As the sun fell from the sky and the two missed dinner, Ginny put Dean through a series of form building activities. Sprints, special moves, tricks, eye hand exercises. Dean was a great student. His sullen and dejected mood cheered up as he quickly caught on to her coaching. Finally, he was ready to call it a day.

"Can we come back out tomorrow?" he asked as he landed a bit before her.

"Yes, but I'm not missing dinner again," she said as her feet hit the ground. His hand was directly out to help her off of her broom. She ignored it and dismounted on her own. Before her feet were fully planted on the ground, he tackled her into a massive bear hug.

"Thanks," he said quietly into her hair, "I have a really hard time asking for help."

"Don't mention it, dear," she said in a strangled and breathless voice as her air was cut off by the hug, "Just let me breathe and we'll call it even."

"Oh! Sorry," he said, pulling back again before arching in for a kiss. His wind chapped lips were salty from sweat as they played on hers. "You're stellar," he said as he pulled back.

"You're not so bad yourself," she said as she grabbed her broom. "Now lets get inside before I eat your arm. I need food. I'm starving."

Dean's form improved even more the next day. But it wasn't quite enough. Trials came quickly on Saturday morning and Dean didn't quite make the cut due to the unfortunate appearance of a girl named Demelza Robbins, who was impeccable. Ginny, however, had nothing to worry about, as Harry drafted her straight into a Chaser position.

"You don't think Dean's mad at me, do you? I mean, I've already got McLaggen planning my death," Harry said, referring to the ugly Keeper trials, as the two walked back to the castle after trials.

"I don't know. I don't think so. He's definitely upset about it. But I don't think he's mad," she said.

"Well, he is the first on the reserve list. So if you break your neck or something, he'll be in right away."

"Better not tell him that, though," Ginny quipped, "Or else he might attempt to break my neck."

"Good point," Harry laughed. "I'm excited to finally play on the house team with you, you know. Two of my three best mates in the sky with me, and you are much cooler under pressure than Ron."

Ginny didn't hear that second part. She was still tied to the other statement, "You...you see me as one of your best mates, Harry?" she asked.

"Yeah, of course I do," he said casually, letting out a light laugh as he looked down at her, his eyes sparkling. She fought off a butterfly successfully.

"Oh. Well, okay then," Ginny muttered as she played over what that meant in her head. Whatever it meant, wherever it came from, wherever it led to, it was possible that she liked it. Being one of Harry's best friends was the best she could reasonably hope for. With that, the two fell into a comfortable and friendly silence as they entered the castle.

* * *


	33. No escape

"What do you want to do in Hogsmeade tomorrow, Ginger?" Dean asked as he slid into the seat next to Ginny at the crowded table in the loud and buzzing common room. Ginny, half buried in books and parchment, looked up with obvious feigned surprise and gasped audibly.

"Dean, are you...goodness, wow...are you asking me to Hogsmeade?" she mock swooned, throwing the back of her hand up to her head in an act of fainting.

"Well, you know," Dean continued, snatching a stray piece of her hair and twirling it playfully between his fingers as he leaned in closer to her doe eyed face, "I thought maybe since you were going alone, and I was going alone..."

"I would just LOVE to," she said, smiling at their little play a long,"Well, this being our first Hogsmeade date--," she said, returning her swooning arm and voice to more natural positions, before Dean cut in.

"Since we never got to go on the first one I asked you on five months ago," he reminded her, "You know, behind the tapestry."

"Since we never got to go on that one, yes," she repeated, adding a slight smirk, "Since this will be our first, I have one little request."

"Being?" Dean asked with eyebrows raised.

"No Madam Puddifoot's," she said lightly.

Dean paused, a slightly perplexed look creeping onto his face, "Really?" he finally asked, "I thought all girls wanted to go there."

Ginny smiled and shook her head, "Do I look like all girls, Dean?" she challenged him coyly.

"Well, no. Not exactly. It's just something that couples do, and..." Dean said before he trailed off, his fingers absentmindedly twirling the strand of Ginny's hair with less gumption than before.

Ginny bit back a smile as she leaned her face closer to his, their noses almost touching,"Dean. Do _you_ want to go to Madam Puddifoot's?" she asked with a hint of tease in her voice.

Dean's fingers stopped twirling, his eyes intent only on his hands' sudden stillness, "No, of course not," he paused, "I just, well, I..." he sighed before he looked her in the eye, his big brown puppy eyes filled with a hint of embarrassment, "I already booked us a table..."

Ginny's eyes widened, betraying her face as she leaned back and tried to hide her shock, "I didn't even know you could do that."

"Yeah, you can. Nobody does it, but yeah," Dean said quietly, dejectedly, once again intent on staring at his hand laced with Ginny's wild hair.

Ginny hesitated with her conflicting thoughts. It was very true that the girl never wanted to take another step in or near Madam Puddifoot's. It was so sickly sweet, so syrupy and frilly. A direct contrast to one Miss Ginny Weasley. Even the thought of it made her a bit ill. But as she looked at her boyfriend and his suddenly dejected manner, her resolve softened slightly for reasons she couldn't explain. Biting back a sigh, she leaned back in and caught his eye by tilting his chin up with her hand, "Do you really want to go?" she asked him.

"I just want to show you a nice time on our first real date," he said quietly as he shrugged.

She bit her lip with a sweet smile as a bubble of affection filled up her stomach, allowing her mind to come to terms with the fact that making Dean happy was more important than avoiding her gag reflex. She continued, "Madam Puddifoot's it is."

As was becoming the trend of the year, O.W.L.S. were stealing increasingly more and more moments of Ginny's life. The few moments that she did have free were now dedicated to Quidditch practice, and though that was much to her liking, Ginny found herself a little let down that Dean hadn't made the team, because her time with him was becoming extremely minimal. That fact was, she was enjoying him more and more with each passing day. Time with all friends was minimal, save Harry because of Quidditch. Luna was quickly becoming a charms class only friend and Hermione was only available as a last minute tutor. It was hard to feel like a good friend when there were no minutes in the day.

One thing that she was quite happy to be missing out on, however, were the ever frequent dinners for the 'Slug Club' which she begrudgingly had been inducted into on the Hogwarts Express during the infamous Bat Bogey of Zacharius incident. She had only Harry to thank as her savior from all things 'Slug'. Though he was acting out of selfish need, Harry had scheduled each and every Quidditch practice to overlap Slug Club dinners, thus saving her in return. She was forever in his debt.

So it was obvious, after such a busy and time consuming few weeks, that the Hogsmeade date was something she was really looking forward to. Though it had now been marred by an impending trip to Madam Puddifoot's, a relaxing day with Dean sounded divine.

Ginny was surprised, amazed even, if she ever gave herself a moment to think about it, that she had taken to Dean so heavily upon her return to school. Looking back, she realized with a bit of embarrassment that she hadn't really known him at all when they started dating. A summer of solitude on top of that hadn't helped one bit either. But now, back in the world of Hogwarts, it was amazing how well the two of them actually clicked. Dean was kind, he was funny, he was even cuter than she'd remembered during her many nights attempting to write letters to him in her blanket fort.

"Are you ready for a lovely Hogsmeade-riffic day?" Dean asked, sneaking up on her ear in the common room the next morning.

"Am I ever!" she said as he kissed her good morning on the cheek. "I was thinking we could meet Luna at the Three Broomsticks in the afternoon, would that be okay?" Ginny asked.

Dean contemplated, "Well, I mean, we might be able to but I made our reservation for one o'clock."

Ginny did not allow her sigh to escape her mouth, "Okay. We'll, let's try at least?" she said as she made her way to the portrait hole.

Dean's hand found the small of Ginny's back and led her through the portrait hole, "Are you sure you want to spend time with Luna today? It's just that we never get any time together and--"

She cut him off and lightly brushed away his hand, "I just haven't really spent any time with Luna since, well, last year. So, yes, I would like to spend a bit of time with her."

"Okay, we'll see," he said, clambering out behind her into the hall.

--

"After you, my dea--" Dean said gallantly as he held the door of Madam Puddifoot's open for her before a forceful gale of wind from the storm surrounding them caught the door, whipping the door out of his hand and knocking him to the ground.

Ginny gasped, successfully cutting off a laugh. "Are you alright?" she asked as she held out her hand to help him. The boys windburned cheeks flushed an even deeper shade of crimson as he sat sprawled on the ground of the entry way. Regaining his composure, he pulled himself up to standing with aid of the door knob, ignoring Ginny's hand. Brushing off his trousers, he resumed his stiff, gentlemanly position, and little more carefully this time, he successfully gestured inside without further comment on the matter.

"Ladies first," he said clearly, gesturing through the doorway with a sweeping and elegant arm.

"Err...okay," she muttered as she hesitantly entered the cluttered cafe that was Madam Puddifoot's. As she entered the warm and fuzzy room, the feeling of the biting cold wind on her cheeks was replaced with an unpleasant flop of her stomach. The place was exactly as she remembered it. Pink and purple and plush exuding from every available nook, cranny, and corner, while every unavailable nook, cranny, and corner was crammed with giggly, syrupy couples that for once could kiss in the open and not in a deserted corridor or cramped broom closet.

Dean's hand found the small of her back as he crossed the threshold behind her, struggling against the wind to pull the door shut. The interruption of the wind went unnoticed by each and every one of the saccharin laced couples. However, one person noticed. Madam Puddifoot appeared from a tightly crammed doorway and tottered her stout body to the door with a good natured smile, "Well, hello dears, get that door shut or your going to catch a cold." Dean gave a final heave to the door with both hands, successfully shutting it after all that effort, "What will it be, dears?" she asked.

Dean's hand magnetically returned to the small of Ginny's back as he spoke, "I actually have a reservation, er...for Thomas."

"Oh, oh yes, the _reservation_", lady smiled at Ginny, "how sweet." Quickly, the woman waved for the two to follow. Swallowing her unwarranted distaste for the heady fumes that engulfed her as she stepped further into the box of love, Dean's hand uncomfortably guiding her all the way, they reached the very center of the little shop. "Center of attention! Just like you asked, Mr. Thomas," Madam Puddifoot squealed giddily as she left the couple stranded at the island of their table in the sea of snogging faces. The rock in Ginny's stomach was quickly growing into a boulder. Dean went behind her and pulled out her chair, "My lady," he said cordially.

Ginny feigned a smile, though she was sure it was closer to a confused sneer. Dean smiled appreciatively at her as he pushed her chair into the table before taking his own. Combing the wind knots out of her hair, she attempted again to smile back. It was unavoidable. The room was feeling increasingly claustrophobic amid the bevy of attached hands and faces. Looking at Dean, with his excited eyes, she sighed. It was obvious that this was his idea of perfection.

Dean handed her the small menu, "What would you like?"

She answered without taking the menu, "I'll just have a chamomile tea," she said, _preferably with a large shot of firewhiskey to make this easier, _she thought with a tiny chuckle.

"What?" Dean asked.

"Nothing, just a chamomile tea is great."

And with that, Madam Puddifoot appeared as if she had Apparated to the spot. "What will it be, dears?"

Ginny opened her mouth to speak, but Dean put out his hand to cut her off, "A chamomile tea for the lady. An Earl Grey for me. And a dish of chocolate covered strawberries."

Madam Puddifoot nodded and quickly walked away, not perceiving the perplexed and slightly appalled look on Ginny's face.

"Umm..Dean. You know that I can order for myself, right?" she asked, biting back her hint of annoyance from his actions.

"I know, but it's the cordial thing to do," he said, smiling serenely as he took her hands. She sighed. He ignored it. "So, isn't this place wonderful?" he asked, leaning in to her over the table. A small rush of nausea waved over the girl as she looked around the room.

"It's...cozy," she said, attempting with each small muscle in her face to smile.

Dean beamed, "I knew you'd like it once I got you here. You've just been coming here with the wrong boys," he said as he leaned in further over the small table.

It was an odd reaction as Ginny found herself leaning away from his advancing face. Dean's inviting eyes and lovely smile were no match for the bubble and surge of discomfort and warning emanating from her core. She couldn't pinpoint what exactly was so terrible and sickening about the environment. Was it the snogging couples? The pink and plush? The overwhelming smell of lavender? Or was it the fact that this was truly what Dean thought of as romantic, a view that she definitely did not share. Everything about the place, and more importantly, about how Dean was _acting _was all so...put on. So old fashioned. So much of a show...so unnatural. The antithesis of romantic in Ginny's eyes. Her stomach was swimming with increasing discomfort.

And with alarming speed, Madam Puddifoot returned, tea and strawberries in hand. Ginny took the chance to retrieve her hand from Dean's as the woman set down her tea and bustled away. Busying herself with the act of stirring in sugar, she tried not to notice Dean from her periphery.

"Ginny?" he whispered, she glanced up from her stirring. In his hand was a strawberry.

"Do you want one?" he asked.

"Umm...sure," she said, reaching out her hand toward the bowl, he blocked her.

"Uh uh," he whispered, leaning forward, "Open up."

The tidal waves of nausea that had been brewing spewed over in her core as she leaned back away from Dean and the strawberry he wanted to feed her. Madam Puddifoot's was turning out to be even worse than she'd remembered or feared. It was all too much. The smells, the sights, the clueless boyfriend. Too much.

"Dean, I'm not feeling well, um...will you, er, excuse me?" she asked, moving to stand up from her chair.

"What's wrong?" Dean asked, setting down the traitorous strawberry.

"Um...I don't know. I just think it's a little stuffy in here, maybe all the lavender and lilac. I might just need some fresh air," Ginny felt terrible for her physical response to the entire ordeal. She could fight death eaters and fly dangerously on brooms, but a tiny, teenager filled, snog infested tea shop could put her over the edge of panic. Her flight response totally outweighed any option to fight through the experience. She gulped, a bead of cold sweat tickling her forehead, "I'm so sorry Dean, I just..." but she couldn't finish her sentence as her nausea bowled her over. And with that she was out the door.

The rough wind hitting her face never felt better as it took away all waves of discomfort as she walked briskly away from the door to the other side of the street. Head between her legs, she sat on the curb of the walkway, and slowly regained composure.

"Really, are you okay?" she heard in her right ear after a few moments. Looking up, she saw Dean apprehensively sitting down beside her.

"I think I'm okay," she sighed, embarrassed beyond belief, "I'm really sorry about that. I was just really not feeling well in there," she said quietly, "Do you think we could go back to Hogwarts?"

"Sure," he said kindly as he stood, holding his hand out to help her up. For once, she took it. "Sorry you aren't feeling well."

"It happens. I'm so sorry I messed up your perfectly planned date," she said in response, attempting a small smile, at which she was finally successful.

And at that moment they heard the cries for help coming from the path back to Hogwarts.

--

"So, you're saying that she picked up the package and then just shot into the air?" Ginny asked Harry later that night back in the common room. The buzz about Katie Bell's cursing from the necklace was all anyone had talked about from the second Hogsmeade day was over. Most of the room had finally gone to bed, leaving Harry and Ginny alone by the fireplace. Harry was so worn out from consistent retelling of the story that he merely nodded his head.

Harry sat up from his reclined stance and scooted toward Ginny, lowering his voice, "You know what's been popping in my mind all night? And I feel bad even thinking about it because I'm worried if she's even going to come out of this. But, I'm probably going to have to replace her on the team. At least until she recovers."

"You're right. You probably are," Ginny said with equal restrained quiet.

Harry let out a small sigh, "Do you think Dean would want to join the team?"

Ginny glanced at Harry, a surprisingly mixed feeling creeping into her, "Um...he'd probably like that."

Harry chuckled, "Don't sound too excited," he said sarcastically.

"Oh, it's not that," she sighed, leaning her head back as the war memories of Madam Puddifoot's assaulted her memory, "We just didn't exactly have a good day. It's nothing he did."

Harry was silent. However, she could somehow feel his curiosity through the silence. She bit her lip as she looked at him, "Just another day at Madam Puddifoot's."

"Oooh," Harry let out with a groan, "Enough said, I won't ask anymore."

Ginny laughed, "Well, I'm glad at least someone understands where I'm coming from."

"When it comes to Madam Puddifoot's, I definitely understand," he said with a teasing smile, "I mean, I'd never drag you there. I--" he stopped and cleared his throat.

Ginny turned her head and looked at him, her eyes widening as she saw a slight blush creep into his cheeks. Her heart traitorously skipped a beat as she looked down and saw the sudden tense clenching of his hands.

"I mean," he said in a pinched voice, "no one should ever drag you there. It's not really a place anyone would think to take Ginny Weasley. That's what I meant." He exhaled slightly heavier than usual.

"Yeah..." she said, shaking off the oddity of the last few seconds, "I tried to tell him that, but he really wanted to go." And with that, an awkward silence engulfed the two. "But...er, of course Dean would want to be on the team. You should definitely ask him."

"I'll do that," Harry said, before standing, "I'm going to go to bed. It's been a long day. Night Gin," he said with a quick smile before turning and making his way to the boy's staircase.

Ginny exhaled to herself, "Well, THAT was weird," she said quietly to herself with a smirk.

Dean was indeed ecstatic to be invited onto the team, though he was terribly nervous for his first practice a couple of weeks later. The couple spent many nights out in the sky, working on his skills before he joined the team. It was great. It was better than great. It was surprisingly divine. Time with her boyfriend in the sky got better every evening. Everyday the two of them got better and better together in the sky, and started having more and more fun. It showed in the his first practice with the team, as he gelled great with Demelza as well, creating a seamless trio of chasers.

After the first great practice, Ginny fell in step with Dean on the way up to the castle. He quickly pulled her into his side.

"Wasn't that great!" he cried with enthusiasm, with a little skip in his step as they entered the doors of the castle.

"It really was, you did a great job," she said with a smile as she wrapped her arm around his back.

"I just feel really good!" he enthused, pulling her in even tighter around the waist, "You're amazing. You, Ginny Weasley are bloody amazing! You're smart, you're an ace at Quidditch, you're insanely cute, a killer teacher. I couldn't have done this without you," he said, shooting her a look as she smirked in an embarrassed way.

"Listen Dean, I just helped, I didn't make you good. I just gave you a few pointers and a partner to play off of," she said as they turned the corner. Dean took her hand and led the way through a tapestry.

"You certainly did give me a partner to play off of," he said with a playful lilt, "There is only one thing that can make this night perfect."

Ginny rolled her eyes with a smile, it was too obvious to see where his mind had led, "And what is that Dean?" she asked with feigned dryness.

And before she knew it, he had turned her to the wall of the corridor with a slight bit of force, "An after practice snog fest," he said teasingly, before she let him lean in for a kiss. Everything he had wanted to say, every thank you he wanted to utter, seemed to be transferred to her with that kiss. For Dean had never kissed Ginny like that. It was a hungry, passionate kiss beyond what she thought was capable. It was bloody wonderful, she thought as she smiled against his caring lips, forcefully pushing her hands into this course and windblown hair, bloody brilliant.

"Oi!" cried a voice. A voice she knew all too well. The last voice she would EVER want to hear while having the best snog of her life. _How DARE he interrupt me at THIS moment in my life! _she thought menacingly as she quickly pulled her face away from Dean's and looked down the corridor. And then her heart stopped.

In a split second she took in the terrible scene. It was not only Ron staring at her with revulsion and disbelief. But Harry as well. The expression on his face shocking her to silence. His face was so negative, so unreadable. So stunned and _livid. _His burning eyes were right on her in a way she had never once experienced from him. He was pale as a ghost, tight lipped, his emerald eyes as hard as the gem they were colored for. It almost seemed as if his body was shaking. Not sure what to do, how to react, WHO to react TO, she turned to her brother with a resounding "What?"

From there, a fight erupted from there that was unlike anything that she had ever experienced with her brother. Dean scooted away from the scene before he ever had a chance to get involved, leaving Ginny to deal alone with the repulsive and obscene red head towering in front of her. It was totally out of line for him to say a single word about her life! He was her BROTHER, NOT her guardian!

But as she yelled, as she screamed, as she got completely worked up about the concept of Ron needing to get a life and leave hers alone, her inner mind continued to frantically search Harry's eyes. To gauge his reactions. To take in his unbelievable response. To view his utterly unreadable and beautiful face. To understand his suddenly glass cold eyes that she had never seen before.

And suddenly emerging out of the depths of her buried and guarded heart, she realized with a sudden shock, that regardless of who she had been lovingly wrapped up in seconds before, regardless of her ever growing feelings for Dean, regardless of the tears she was about to spill defending herself against her brother, despite every part of her that fought it and _urged _her not to want it, she would have given _anything_ for one chance, for a heart wrenching glimpse, for a quick tiny little sneak peek into the depths Harry's mind and heart at that very moment. To go behind his smoldering and piercing eyes just to know, just to see with her own eyes and her own beating heart, how on earth it all made him feel. In that moment, as she screamed, it was truly the only thing she wanted.

Because regardless of how hard she tried not to let it be true, it became glaringly obvious to her in that moment that endless deep and dark crevices of her heart still belonged to the beautiful icy eyed boy glaring in her wake. As they always had, since the beginning, and as they always would. And at that moment, at that intense realization, her heart broke all over again.

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Here you are, my loves! Enjoy! And here I feel like we're about to finally shoot down the best part of the Harry/Ginny waterslide. The coming parts are the parts I've been waiting to write for six months!! Thanks for your patience, all!


	34. Avert Your Eyes

**I'm Back!!! I'm so happy to be writing this again! Be sure to read back and catch yourself up with where we are in the story, so you don't walk into this chapter confused. Happy reading! (And I promise there will not be any more 4 1/2 month gaps in writing...at least til next summer)**

**L. Borealis**

**-------------------------**

"Ginny…" Dean's voice echoed as the portrait hole swung open, emitting her to the common room.

She grimaced, hiding it as best she could as she stepped into the dying firelight from the shadow of the entryway. The faceless, empty corridors she had wandered for an hour had been more welcome to her jumbled mind than the face that was suddenly in front of her. Dean's face, soft and nervous, was the last one she wanted to see. Which was a shame. But right now she just wanted to be alone.

"Er...yeah?" she asked, shiftily stopping on route to the girls stairway.

"Is everything okay?" he asked, coming closer.

"Um...yeah. Everything's fine. Er, just do me a favor and stay out of Ron's way for a day or two," she said with an attempt at a joke, keeping her eyes on her feet in an attempt to hide her puffy tear stained eyes.

"Greaaat," Dean sighed, "I'll sleep with my wand in my hand."

"Probably best," she said distractedly, forcing out a small smile for him, "I'm really sorry about that. It was totally uncalled for."

"Oh, it's alright," Dean said, bringing her closer and sweeping her Quidditch blown hair out of her face, "I'm not going to lie and say I didn't expect that to happen at some point. I'm surprised he hasn't hexed me in my sleep just on principle that I talk to you."

"You've got a point. Brave of you to sleep in the same room as him," she attempted a light hearted laugh, it fell flat, ringing hollow. "Listen Dean, I'm going to go up to bed, I need to sleep that off."

"Okay," he said as he pulling her in completely, "Good night," He said with a kiss to her forehead.

"Night," she muttered, pulling away quickly and aiming her way up the girls staircase. The door marked '5th years' was up on her left, but she distinctly turned right, rapping lightly on a door marked '6th years'

"Come in," echoed the exact voice she needed.

Hermione was bundled in bed with one of her many adored textbooks, a candle burning brightly at her side. The second she saw Ginny, and the obvious state the girl was in, the book made its way to the bedside table and she was standing, "What happened to you?" she asked, taking in Ginny's puffy eyes, messy hair, dirty robes and pained expression. Ginny looked into the corner to see two sets of eyes peering at her inquisitively. She beckoned Hermione out onto the stairway.

"Sorry, I don't really want Lavender and Parvati to turn this into gossip," she said in a whisper as she closed the door, "I just had worst row with Ron."

"Oohhh no. Are you alright? What happened?" Hermione asked, motioning for Ginny to take a seat on the dormitory steps. The girls sat. Ginny resting her elbows on her knees in a defeated fashion.

"Oh, you know, he caught me snogging Dean in a corridor then pretty much told me I was cheap," Ginny said in a bland and unsurprised tone. Hermione's eyes widened.

"He said WHAT?"

"Well, not in so many words. I stopped him with my wand to his neck before he got the word out. But I think that 'cheap' was the word he was going for. Maybe harlot, sleaze. Whatever it was going to be, I got the jist," She shrugged, trying to break the tension that was reentering her shoulders.

"Did you curse him?" Hermione asked hesitantly.

"OH! Oooooh, I would have, I definitely tried," she said strongly, before taking a quick intake of air. "But Harry put himself in the way," she said as she looked Hermione in the eye for the first time, silently making her plea for the understanding she was sure only Hermione could give her.

Hermione sighed, and Ginny saw for the first time in years, the knowing look she used to see on that face every day before Michael and Dean had entered her life, "Harry saw it too, huh?" Hermione asked.

Ginny let out the breath she had been holding for an hour as she started, the conversation promptly flying away from anything having to do with Ron and the verbal sprawl. Ginny told Hermione in detail how Harry had reacted, confusion taking over fully as she relived each moment in her head.

"I just don't get it. How he reacted. It was just so weird. He was looking at me with the most bitter, ice cold expression I have ever seen from him. I mean, he looked almost more mad than Ron," Ginny sighed, "I just don't get it. It's really thrown me off."

Ginny watched Hermione as she stared at her own feet, contemplating what Ginny had said, biting her lip in thought. After a long silence, Hermione, surprisingly, gave the tiniest of laughs. Ginny's eyes narrowed in confused response as Hermione looked up, taking a deep breath and placing her hand lightly on Ginny's shoulder kindly, before saying, "Why don't you just brush it off. He's probably just be having the same reaction Ron had…big brotherly and all," she paused, noting the deep inhale Ginny had taken, "I mean, I don't know, I'm can't get inside Harry's head all of the time, but we should probably just count it as that right now."

Ginny nodded and steeled herself, "Yeah, you're right. No need to read into anything. It just threw me off is all. Mione, I think I'm going to go to bed, sleep all of that off."

"Good idea. I'm sure you'll feel better in the morning," Hermione said with a kind smile as she stood up and turned to walk to her door.

"Hey, one question," Ginny said, a new rift of confusion riddling her face as she stood as well.

"Yeah?" Hermione said, turning around, door handle in her hand.

"Why did you laugh just then? When you were thinking..."

"Oh," Hermione bit her lip again as the tiniest light danced in her eyes, "Nothing, I just have to research something."

"Err...okay..." Ginny said, further perplexed than before. She turned around to leave as Hermione reentered the bedroom, the faces of Parvati and Lavender visible in the corner, staring in their direction.

"Gin?" Hermione asked quickly, peeking out and leaning her head on the open door.

"Huh?"

"What DID you say to Ron when he said that?" Hermione asked inquisitively.

"Oh, I just blew off the handle, screaming something about how he's never had a more than a kiss from Auntie Muriel, so he doesn't know what he's talking about. Said a bunch of stuff I don't really remember. Angry streams of words," Ginny said with a shrug. Hermione's eyes widened.

"He's going to be unbearable…and when I'd just gotten him back on my good side after asking him to Slughorn's Christmas Party,"Hermione said, rolling her eyes.

Ginny laughed, then stopped abruptly, her eyes widening, "You asked Ron to Slughorn's Christmas Party?"

Hermione bit back a smile that was fighting to get out as her face turned the sharpest pink. She nodded quickly. It was obvious the second it came out that she had been bursting to tell this news.

"Woooow. If he wasn't such a prat I'd say congratulations!" Ginny said, a small laugh exiting her for the first time at the brewing excitement on Hermione's face.

"Thanks! Good night!" she whispered, her excitement palpable as she shut the door behind her.

Hermione's giddy demeanor was not destined to last, however. Unbearable, as Hermione had put it, was a blatant understatement. Ron was downright evil. Ginny had expected this to be directed at both herself and Dean (who had amazingly lived through his first night sleeping next to the enemy), but what was so confusing was his blatant freezing out of Hermione in particular.

"Did you say anything to him about ME in that row?" Hermione asked with a hurt and confused expression the next evening after a string of sneers, dirty looks and cold shoulders from the boy in question. Ginny racked her brain. She had gotten so worked up that the string of words that had shot from her mouth were no longer very memorable to her.

"I don't know. I don't THINK so," she said, before she grimaced, "Oh..oooh no. He can't be that thick..."

Hermione eyes narrowed as she nervously asked, "What was it?"

"Well, I can't imagine he hadn't known!" she exclaimed, "I was going on a rant about how he's the only one who's never kissed someone and…oh Merlin…you and Krum might have come up in there somewhere. Hermione, I'm so sorry!"

Hermione blinked blankly before her face twisted deeper in confusion, "How…is it possible…he that didn't REALIZE that? No worries Gin, you didn't tell him anything he shouldn't have been able to figure out on his own! I mean, wouldn't that have been obvious?!" Hermione said in a voice that was gaining pitch and volume, ending her rant in something similar to a bird screech. "Oh that prat!" she said, stalking away up to the girl's dormitory.

Ron freezing out Hermione wasn't the only issue at hand, either. The next three days were fraught with increasingly uncomfortable interactions with Harry. 'Interactions' would have been an overstatement, 'lack' of interactions would have been a better explanation. But interactions or not, they were enough for Ginny to be SURE that Harry had been affected somehow by what he had seen the night in the corridor.

Say, for instance, Harry and Ginny were to meet by accident alone while walking through a corridor, as did occur on the third day after the 'incident'. The 'pre-snog interruption' Harry would have caught her eye with his wickedly beautiful smile and jovially greeted her as he passed. On the contrary, the new 'post-snog interruption' Harry averted his eyes from her quickly after catching her eye by accident and, murmuring a stunted 'hullo', veered to the side to pass Ginny with the widest berth possible, tripping over the foot of a suit of armour in the process.

However, oddly enough, and to make the situation even more confusing, it was easy for Ginny to note that he was not cold to her at all. There was no trace of the sharp ice that had been riddling his eyes during the fight. The ice had been replaced with the oddest aloof awkwardness. And, though she was sure her eyes were playing tricks on her, there seemed to be a hint of blush on his cheeks more often lately. It was driving the girl utterly berserk. All of it was. Ron's petty behavior, Hermione's wounded spirit, Dean's sudden fear for his life, Harry's sudden loss of words.

Though it had truly been the best snog of her life to date, she would have easily traded it to have everything back to normal.

But that was not in the cards. She was stuck with that snog as much as she was stuck with the bizarre consequences.

"But why didn't he know that!?" Hermione cawed as she picked at her breakfast two days later. "I just don't GET him!"

"Well..." Ginny edged nervously, making sure to phrase her question correctly, to avert Hermione's fork from flying at her eye, "You never really came out and told him, did you?" Ginny asked.

"Ha!" Hermione scoffed before clearing her throat and straightening her back in mock speech, 'Ronald, I just snogged Viktor Krum! Wonderful, no? I just thought you should know,'" she rolled her eyes, "But the fact that thick headed prat never figured it out? That's absurd!"

"I know, but--"

"And what was that? One and a half...two years ago? Come one, Ron, get over yourself!" Hermione grumbled as she stabbed at a poor helpless piece of food.

"I know," Ginny consoled, patting Hermione on the back.

Hermione sighed, putting down her fork/spear, "I'm not hungry."

"He's a total prat. We all know that," Ginny said.

"You got that right!" Dean mumbled through his full mouth, taking full opportunity to voice his opinion from the other side of Ginny, "I only slept two hours last night. Your brother kept his wand in this hand while he slept."

"Prat," Ginny sighed, "Git," Hermione grumbled.

"Hermione, are you ready to go to Herbology?" came the voice of Harry quietly from behind them, making Hermione and Ginny both jump in surprise. Ginny turned around to see him standing awkwardly behind them, obviously uncomfortable.

"Er...yeah," Hermione said, slowly grabbing her bag.

"Okay, I'll..." he glanced quickly at Ginny, who caught his eye, before he glanced away as quickly as humanly possible, "I'll wait for you outside." And with that he quickly walked away. From her chest, she felt her inner self growl as a bubble of anger popped inside of the girl. Her patience for Harry's behavior had fully and completely exited her body, just as quickly as he had exited the Great Hall.

"This has got to stop," she said resolutely as she stood up and extracted herself from the table and began stalking after Harry out of the Great Hall, her hair wisping in her face like a ginger Medusa.

"Ginny! Where are you going?," Dean called after her, half standing up, his mouth still full, but she didn't hear him.

As quickly as her petite legs could take her, she stalked the wisp of raven hair that was visible quickly exiting the building.

"Potter!" She yelled after him as he attempted to quickly step out of the main doors of castle. Multiple heads turned in her direction, gossipy students had excited looks on their faces as if expecting a fight, a whisper could be heard here and there. But she didn't register any of it. She only could notice Harry stopped in mid step, his shoulders tensing visibly, as though he were caught. He turned slowly to face her, his eyes shifty.

"Er...yeah?" he asked meekly.

"Can I talk to you?" Ginny said slowly in a dangerous voice that anyone would be a fool to turn down. And with that she stalked away from the main doors of the castle and straight into a small and shadowed corridor. As expected, Harry followed, slowly. Ginny looked both ways down the corridor and lowered her voice to a dangerous whisper, Harry standing shiftily against the wall.

"Ginny, I..er..I have to go to Herb--"

"Are you siding with my brother?" she asked, cutting him in mid sentence, stepping closer within the tight space.

"I..er...no?" he said.

"Then, are you angry that I brought you and Cho into it that night?" She asked, stepping in even closer.

"I...no...I..." he stuttered, attempting to back up, and hitting the wall. His eyes widened as she stepped in the final bit, bridging the gap between them and looking straight up into his face, dangerously close, no more than a few inches away.

"Then WHAT, may I ask, is your problem?" she demanded.

Harry gulped visibly, his eyes wide and highly nervous but looking down and making eye contact for the first time in days. Ginny felt a current run through her that had nothing to do with her anger. After an eternity of eye locked pause, he cleared his throat and whispered, "...I don't have one."

Ginny gathered herself quickly, straightening her back despite, "Good. Glad we cleared that up. Now if you'd kindly stop hiding from me like I'm some monster, I'd be appreciative," she spat, her eyes burning holes into his. And with that she turned on her heel and stalked off out of the corridor, not bothering to look back, regardless of how much she wanted to.

That seemed to have fixed it. During the next weeks, Harry abandoned his blatant disregard for Ginny's existence. Though, he was definitely still a little different. Ginny was willing to take the tenuous new interaction, however, because being on speaking terms was of the highest importance. The Slytherin/Gryffindor Quidditch game was right around the corner, meaning nightly team practices, which were getting worse and worse due to the continuing anger that Ron was exuding, making his keeping skills utterly unbearable.

Ginny woke up for the game with a rock in her stomach. Personally, her practices had been going quite well. As long as she could keep the ball away from Ron's side, they had a chance.

But what she wasn't ready for was a completely brilliant performance by Ron, quickly washing away all of her built up anger for him. Whatever had happened, whatever had clicked on in his brain, Ron was playing to a standard she had never seen from him, making for a fantastically successful game...with one exception.

It was well known around Hogwarts that Ginny hated Zacharius Smith. So it was very unfortunate that it would be his voice she heard in while in the air, commentating the game, not at all living up to Lee Jordan's stellar reputation for announcer that he had built over the years. Ginny never thought she could loathe someone more than the Slytherin Quidditch team, but he succeeded.

"And Gryffindor wins it! I don't know, looked like a weak catch by Harry Potter, I'm sure he never would have made that catch had he been on a standard broom. Broom doesn't make up for---AHHHH!!!!!" she heard him scream as she shot herself directly at him, decimating the platform he was standing on to pieces.

"Whoops!" she cried, in feigning surprise as she pulled away triumphantly to join her team.

"Ginny?! Are you alright? Oh Merlin! You cut your face!" Dean was yelling, zooming to her on his broom without any mention of the game.

She waved her hand to express that it wasn't a big deal "I'm fi--" but she was cut off as she was caught by surprise by someone tugging on the tail of her broom, whipping around in the air to see Harry directly behind her before he pulled her into a deep warm hug as they hit the ground, causing the girl to stumble on her weakened feet. Harry caught her, laughing and pulling her in a little tighter before quickly letting go and moving on rapping Ron on the back. Now on the ground, she watched him go as she momentarily forgot about the game.

"Well, great win!" Dean said, landing next to her and pulling her into a hug that for all intents and purposes should have felt fantastic. But, instead, just felt like a hug...


	35. Unrequited

If Ginny had become a pro at one thing in her life, it was the ability to shake off any weird or charged interaction with Harry Potter, which is precisely what she did as she changed back into her black school robes after the game. Hearing Hermione's voice in her head, "_Why don't you just brush it off....big brotherly..._" she nodded to herself and wiped the drying blood off of her cheek, the only obvious injury she sustained when she had flown directly into the commentator's booth, collapsing it around Zacharius Smith and his big mouth. From the yells, jeers, and laughter that could be heard from the students returning to the castle, she had been able to gather that Zacharius had been taken to the hospital wing, passed out. It sounded like she hadn't broken any of his bones though, which was fortunate. Finally ready, physically and mentally, she exited the changing room, meeting an exuberant Dean at the door. He threw his arm snugly around her shoulders, and she was officially back to present reality.

"What a brilliant game!" he exclaimed, messing her hair in a playful fashion as they walked away from the pitch, "You were fantastic. When you threw to me from upside down in the middle of a spin, that was awesome!"

Ginny laughed, "That was the worst play I made all game! I never thought in a million years you were going to catch that. So good on you!"

"What can I say, I'm a fantastic Quidditch player," Dean said with a mock air of importance before stopping and looking at her, "That cut on your cheek looks really deep. You really shouldn't have flown into the commentator's podium, you could have been seriously injured."

"I'm fine," she said, waving her hand dismissively, "It was worth every scratch just to see Zacharius's face as I was coming at him."

"Okay..." Dean said nervously, and they walked a bit further before he stopped again, holding her back by the arm, "Will you at least let me heal your face? It might get infected."

Ginny sighed, rolling her eyes with a little smile on her face, "If you must," she said,"You sure do sound like my mum though. Always meddling."

"I'm not meddling," Dean said, "I just worry about you."

Ginny's stomach twisted uncomfortably at this statement. She muttered, "There's really no need to," as Dean performed a healing charm on her cheek, the slight burn turning hot then cold.

"All better," he said, rubbing his thumb over her cheek and pecking her on the newly healed spot.

She shook her head dismissively one more time, "You're too much. A little cut on my face isn't the end of the world. Totally worth it for a brilliant Quidditch win."

Dean didn't respond, he just snaked his arm tightly around her shoulders, acting as a steer through the doors of the castle. They wound their way up to the Gryffindor common room and entered to what was already a raucous party. Dean steered her through the throng of loudly cheering students, who were patting them on the back and handing them butterbeer and sweets in appreciation for their win. The mood was very high. Dean was pulled over by Seamus and Neville to talk in detail about a great play he had made, but the crowd shunted Ginny forward, until she ran smack into the rigid hard body of Hermione.

From the second she glimpsed Hermione's face, she knew the girl was no longer mentally within the loud and exuberant Gryffindor common room. Every feature of her face was etched with a ice cold look of hatred and betrayal.

"Mione?" Ginny said loudly, alarm ringing in her voice over the shouts of party. Hermione nodded forward most subtly. She followed the direction of Hermione's eyes, her stomach dropping at the site.

Ron was wrapped so tightly around the blonde figure of Lavender Brown that she wasn't sure where one of them ended and the other began. Ron sloppily tripped in the middle of the snog, dumping both of them into one of the best chairs by the fire, on top of an alarmed second year. The small boy gasped and wriggled out from underneath the couple, spilling his butterbeer all over himself in the process. Lavender pulled back just enough to laugh and then they recommenced with snogging, now in the chair, unaware that they nearly crushed a small boy. Ginny's stomach twisted uncomfortably as she very hesitantly turned her head to Hermione.

Hermione didn't look at her, she never took her eyes off of the morbid scene, but she said in a high pitched, strained voice, "I'm fine. There's nothing wrong," she took a very audible deep inhale, "I need some fresh air," and with that, she stalked away with purpose. Ginny tried to follow. Hermione didn't even turn around, but said in a definitive voice, "I'll be back. Enjoy the party."

It was clear in Hermione's voice that she wanted to be completely alone. And though it made Ginny extremely uncomfortable to let Hermione be by herself at the moment, she let her walk away. Only to be bumped into from behind a second later, knocking her back into the present. Turning to look, she made eye contact with Harry. The casually distracted look on his face read that he clearly hadn't seen the scene yet.

"Looking for Ron?" She muttered, pointing over her shoulder to the mass of limbs that had further embedded themselves in the plush fireplace chair as she watched Harry's face go from casual to appalled. The effect was almost comedic, "It looks like their eating each others faces, the filthy hypocrite. It's too bad too, that was my favorite chair. I'll never be able to sit in it again." Harry let out an involuntary chuckle as he looked back at Ginny.

Though Ginny and Harry were back on speaking terms, watching Ron snog a girl was not something either of them wanted to share, and Ginny could instantly feel the awkward memory of the corridor incident bubble up between them. It was too connected.

"Hey, good game today, Harry," Ginny said, breaking the momentary silence and patting him on the shoulder in a strictly friendly way, before turning her back on the entire snogging situation, hoping to wash her hands of it for the time being. But before she could even get three feet away, Harry broke around her and hurried quickly out of the portrait hole.

She had just realized where he was going when, "Ginny! Can I get a picture of Gryffindor's star chaser?" asked Colin Creevey, busting through the crowd and flashing his new magical camera with a large puff of green smoke. Ginny have a half startled smile, "Thanks Ginny! Really great flying today--"

"Thanks Colin, listen, I gotta go," she said, sidestepping him. She couldn't shake the feeling that the situation would probably be worsened by Harry's presence. Clueless boys were rarely good company for jilted women. If Hermione couldn't be left alone, Ginny knew she should be there.

"Ginger!" barked Dean, running over and throwing his arm snugly around her shoulder once again so that she was hard pressed to attempt escape. He quickly steered her to the direction of Seamus and Parvati, who was positively beaming, "We were just talking about that little turns of events in the chair by the fire." Ginny sighed, seeing Ron and Lavender unhinging themselves slightly and standing up.

Ginny looked at Dean incredulously, "What about it? I think it's pretty gross." Parvati's beaming dimmed slightly. Ron led Lavender out of the portrait hole. Ginny wiggled out of Dean's grasp as her need to reach Hermione increased. "I'm sorry, I've got to go check something. Hold my butterbeer?" She asked Dean quickly.

"Er, okay. You alright?" He asked quietly, following her away from Seamus and Parvati.

"Yeah, I've just got to go check on someone," and with that she turned around and finally succeeded in fighting her way through the excited and adoring crowd ("Good game Ginny!" "Way to knock out that prat Smith!") and making it out of the portrait hole.

Ron and Lavender were turning the corner of the corridor, holding hands and giggling. Torn between not wanting to follow them, and needing to find Hermione, she decided to hold back and not follow too closely. It was the wrong decision.

Rounding the corner herself, she saw Lavender giggling as she turned down the corridor alone, skipping the other way. Crossing closer to the door, she gasped as she heard a desperately loud screech, followed by a lower loud screech as the door burst open and Hermione flew out of it, toward Ginny.

Hermione had a look that Ginny had never once seen on the girls face. It was monstrous. Her friend busted past her as Ron's yells grew louder, now mixed with Harry's voice attempting charms at stopping whatever Hermione had done to her brother. That, however, was not important. Ginny fell quickly into Hermione's footsteps and followed directly behind her as she shot down the hallway, down the staircases, through the abandoned corridor (the site where the whole mess had started weeks ago), and out of the castle. Down the lawn in the beautiful late fall day, and all the way around to the far edge of the lake. All in all, a trip of about 20 minutes. Never once did Ginny say a word, nor did Hermione make any sign that she knew Ginny was with her.

The second Hermione hit the far end of the lake, however, she turned and fell directly into Ginny's arms, allowing herself to sob fully. The girls stood at the edge of the lake for an unknown amount of time, Ginny supporting Hermione's weight as she cried.

"Ugh!" Hermione squealed suddenly, pulling away and stomping to the edge of the lake, picking up a rock and chucking it roughly into the water. Ginny had never seen Hermione act like this. It was usually Ginny that was raging and Hermione waiting patiently. Taking a note out of Hermione's book on how to deal with a raging person, Ginny kept her distance.

"Do you know what's so stupid about this?" Hermione asked, chucking another rock, "There are so many more important things I should be thinking and worrying about. Death Eaters, Voldemort, NEWTS! My god, NEWTS! But for some stupid reason, which makes no sense AT ALL, I just can't ever stop thinking about _Ron_! Ever since this summer," She chucked another rock angrily,"Do you know I only got an 'Acceptable' on my first potion for Slughorn because that stupid Amortentia was in front of me, smelling just like Ron? I just can't stop thinking about him. I'm pathetic," she said, throwing again, "and then he has to go and do...do that," she let out a sound halfway between a sob and a sigh.

"I really thought it might finally be going somewhere," The tension in Hermione's shoulders loosened, giving her a defeated morose look. The girls stood in silence for a short time, Ginny contemplating Hermione and Hermione contemplating the water.

"You know, I finally understand how you used to feel about Harry," she said, looking at Ginny for the first time, a helpless smirk on her face as she sank down to the ground, her hands still full of rocks, "And I told you to just get over it. I had no idea what I was telling you to do."

"It helped so much though," Ginny said, speaking for the first time as she approached Hermione and took a seat beside her on the rocky bank, "I never could have known that I could get Harry out of my head without your help, and I'd be miserable if I was still like that after so many years."

"I don't know..." Hermione said quietly, with the hint of a smirk on her face.

"Huh?"

"Oh nothing," Hermione said distractedly, "I just, well, I think Harry might have finally figured out that you were a girl."

"Oh rubbish," Ginny said, banishing the idea before it could gain any steam, "Anyway, we're not talking about Harry right now. Ron is my brother, I have known him my whole life, and he is a clueless prat," Ginny sighed, feeling a sudden pang of guilt, "I'm sorry I ever told you to admit your feelings for him. He is not worth any of your time. I could throttle him for what he's done to you."

Hermione's tears picked up again, "I've noticed how Lavender looks at him, but I NEVER thought he'd choose her over me. WHY?" Ginny opened her mouth to speak, but Hermione cut her off "I don't want to know, I don't even want to think about it. This is completely pathetic."

"You just think it's pathetic because for once in your life you aren't in complete control. Seems your emotions have overtaken your logic," Hermione nodded, wide eyed.

"Exactly! I can't even rely on that anymore! Since when has my logic ever flown the coop?"

"Since you fell for my brother?"

She threw the remaining rocks into the lake with ferocious effort, "I am not in _love_ with your---" She didn't get to finish her sentence. Suddenly a huge tentacle of the giant squid shot out of the water, throwing a series of pebbles back at the girls and splashing the water hard in it's descent, thoroughly drenching the girls in icy water as they screamed in surprise of the attack. Scrambling from the ground, the girls stood, laughing despite themselves.

Hermione fished out her wand and dried herself off quickly, Ginny followed suit.

"As I was saying," She said, concentrating the hot air on the hem of her robes, "I am not in _love_ with your brother. That's a bit much. _Love _is a really strong word. I'm not even sure I know what it feels like."

Ginny nodded, feeling it was best not to point out the fact that the word 'love' had never come into the conversation in the first place.

Hermione sighed, "I just fancied the git...a lot. And now I don't even have a date for Slughorn's Christmas party."

Ginny latched onto the change in topic, "That will be VERY easy to remedy. You mark my words. We'll get you the best date possible."

The girls began their walk back up to the castle. The grounds were surprisingly empty for such a beautiful afternoon.

Hermione lightly grabbed Ginny's forearm while they walked up the slope toward the castle, "Thank you so much for following me out here. I think the giant squid would have taken me into the lake if you hadn't been here to calm me down."

Ginny put her around her best friend, "Anytime. I'm glad to finally be able to return the favor. And I'm impressed, I never knew you had that kind of rage in you!"

"Well, we all have our red head moments," Hermione said, smiling bit at Ginny. The smile did not quite reach her eyes, "Thanks," she said quietly.

Ginny hugged her quickly, then took her wand out one more time, "Do you mind if I take the puffiness down in your eyes a bit?"

"Well, I definitely don't want to go in there looking wounded or defeated. Clean me up." With that Ginny went to work, unswelling her eyes and charming her hair to calm down, as it looked even more frazzled than Hermione had at the height of her breakdown.

"Good as new," Ginny said, patting down a final flyaway on Hermione's head, "Tell you what. Let's go to the kitchens. Nothing will make you feel better than accepting chocolate and sweets from house elves."

"You know, for once, I'm not even going to fight you on that." Hermione said, sighing and pulling herself together for good as the girls entered the castle doors.

"One question," Ginny said after a silence, glancing over at her friend.

"Yeah?"

"What did you DO to my brother in that classroom?"

Hermione let out a sound that was a perfect combination between a groan and a laugh, "I set a flock of conjured birds on him."

"HA!" Ginny cried.

"Yeah, I'll probably feel really bad about that later. But right now," Hermione smirked, "I'm pretty proud of it."

"Spoken like a truly jilted woman," Ginny said, still laughing as the girls rounded the corner to the kitchens.

The next weeks brought on a few very distinct changes in the Gryffindor social scene. Hermione was now attached to Ginny's hip anytime she could be. Which was just fine by Ginny, seeing as Hermione was great company. Plus, she was always good help when Ginny needed a last minute homework clue. Also attached to a hip was Ron, to Lavender's. They didn't see his face very much, it was usually stuck to her's. Harry attempted to flit back and forth from the two, obviously trying his hardest not to take a side. Needless to say, Hermione and Ron were not on speaking terms. The term wound down quickly surprisingly fast. The mark of the end of term, Slughorn's Christmas party, was now only three days away.

"Who am I going to ask?" Hermione huffed, panic obviously building up in her as she scanned the Great Hall at lunch, seemingly hoping a hand would pop up in response from the sea of eligible boys.

"You should ask Seamus!" Dean said with a sudden smack of inspiration.

"You just want her to ask Seamus so you won't be alone at the party," Ginny said, elbowing him playfully in the ribs.

"No, I don't really know Seamus all that well," Hermione said distractedly, still scanning the Great Hall.

Ginny looked at her,"Mione, stop looking at the Slytherins. You can't be THAT desperate," she said, nudging her shoulder.

Hermione fell out of her trance and looked at Ginny, "I just don't know who to ask. I don't know who would bother--er...nevermind."

Ginny's mouth turned up in a knowing smirk as she turned herself to Hermione and lowered her voice so Dean wouldn't hear, "Bother Ron? Is that what you were going to say?" A vindictive fire flared up inside of her. Hermione didn't answer, "Okay, if you want to do that--" Ginny raised her eyebrows in an innocent way, "and I'm NOT saying that IS what you were going to say. But if you were to, hypothetically, want to bother Ron, you have some choices."

Hermione remained silent, but obviously intent,"Let's see," Ginny said, scanning the Great Hall herself until she caught one face that she loathed, "Zacharius Smith?"

"Hmmm..." Hermione pondered for a minute, "No, I hate him too much myself."

"Good point," Ginny nodded, "Ernie MacMillian is no good," she said to herself, "If you want a laugh, you could ask Malfoy."

Hermione looked at her, "Yeah, that'll happen."

"He IS with Parkinson. Right," Ginny said distractedly.

Hermione laughed, now looking around the room again herself, "Yeah, Parkinson, only reason THAT wouldn't work!"

Ginny gave Hermione a mock scowl, "You know I was kidding. Though, you guys would make a cute couple."

"Ugh!" Hermione said, shuddering despite herself as she scanned the Gryffindor table and suddenly gasped.

"McLaggen!" She said in an exuberant whisper.

Ginny's jaw dropped to the floor, "You are terrible!"

But Hermione didn't hear her, she was already standing and walking straight to Cormac McLaggen with defiant purpose.

"What is she doing?" Dean asked as Ginny turned back to her lunch plate.

"Oh nothing, she's just getting revenge," Ginny said with a large smile as she started in on her lunch, "Slughorn's party is going to be so much more interesting."

"Yeah," Dean said, "too bad she didn't want to go with Seamus, though. That would have been brilliant."

Ginny shook her head, "I promise I won't leave you alone for any time at the party."

"Good," he said with a smile, "I wouldn't want you to."

With Hermione's date set (McLaggen seemed surprisingly excited), Ginny and Hermione decided to keep with the tradition they had started at the Yule Ball two years prior and get ready together. Confident that their improved magic capabilities would result in less burns and drowning, they set their date and time to meet in the girls bathroom the day of the party. However, a surprising addition was added to their entourage.

Harry, in a surprise move, had asked Luna to go to the party with him, breaking the hearts of almost every girl in the castle. Ginny found this information out in the most peculiar way.

While walking down the hallway on the last day of term, hand in hand with Dean, Peeves came racing around the corner of the corridor, his voice echoing in song, "Potty lurves Loony! Loony lurves Potty! Potty and Loony under the mistletoe!"

Dean and Ginny stopped in mid step and watched Peeves as he screeched down the hallway and around the next corner, "Potty and Loony Party!"

"What do you think that was about?" Dean asked as they left the corridor.

"Pretty easy to deduce, isn't it?" Ginny responded with a laugh, "I'll have to ask Luna."

But she didn't need to. Before they could fully step into the Great Hall, Luna was by her side, "Did Peeves tell you I'll be coming to Slughorn's Christmas Party?"

Ginny laughed, "I can't really say Peeves 'told' me, but we did hear him screaming it through the hallways."

Luna was beaming, "I have to brush off my dress robes. I didn't think I'd need them and they're infested with Gringypots now."

Dean cut in "Gringy--" but Ginny caught his eye and shook her head the slightest amount. He shut his mouth.

"I'm really excited you're going," Ginny said as they neared the Gryffindor table, "Hey, do you want to come to the Gryffindor common room and get ready with Hermione and I?"

Luna's eyes opened widely,"That would be wonderful. Should I bring the slugs?"

Dean's hand tightened on Ginny's, "...slugs?"

"Ground up slugs are wonderful for creating many hairstyles. They have strong bonding properties and--"

"I have Sleakeasy's Hair Potion. We'll be fine," Ginny said, nodding.

"Oh, okay," Luna responded, looking let down, "You're sure?"

"Well, I think Sleakeasy's has slugs in it..." Ginny lied quickly.

"Oh! Alright then. Should I meet you there at 6? Behind the fat lady, right?" Luna asked, twirling her soon to be slugged hair.

"Yep. I'll let you in," Ginny said, smiling as she turned away.

"Oh I'm so exited. Thanks Ginny! Thanks Dean!" she said as she trotted away.

"Why did she thank me?" Dean asked as they sat down, his face riddled with confusion.

"Because you...? I don't know," She said, spotting Harry down the table, "Harry! Good of you to invite Luna, she's so excited!" Harry gave her a half hearted smile as she turned back to Dean and sat.

"By the way," he said closely in her ear as she settled in, "If you DO put slugs in your hair, I am definitely not coming."

"I am going to cover my head in slugs then," Ginny joked, smiling despite herself as Dean pecked her on the cheek.

Unlike their first attempt, years prior, Ginny and Hermione's prep for the party went off without a hitch. Luna even had an easy time of it, though she was quite disappointed when she didn't find 'slugs' listed in the ingredients on the Sleakeasy's container. Dressed in spangled dress robes and charmed hair, the girls descended the steps to find their dates waiting in the common room. Dean waiting patiently with a smile on his face, well put together, Cormac sitting sloppily in one of the fireplace chairs, and Harry with his back turned and talking to Ron, who refused to look at the girls. Luna walked directly past Harry on her way to the portrait hole.

"Luna? Where are you going?" Ginny asked, surprised.

"Harry asked me to meet him in the entrance hall," Luna responded placidly.

"But he's right there," Ginny laughed, pointing to Harry.

Luna merely shrugged and exited.

"That girl is batty," Dean said from close behind her. She turned to face him with a smile. He looked fantastic. The boy definitely knew how to clean up, "You look beautiful," he said as he leaned down to kiss her hello.

"Well, thank you," Ginny said as Dean took her hand.

"Shall we?" he asked. She nodded and he led the way to the portrait hole.

There was something about Dean that had been really nice lately, she thought to herself as they made their way to Slughorn's office. Maybe it was the fact that he had relaxed around her a bit. Maybe it was the fact that he wasn't being obscenely chivalrous. Either way, things were feeling surprisingly good.

The couple entered the party a few minutes later, Dean opening the door and bowing her in. It was already in full swing. Slughorn received her warmly, ignoring Dean fully in the process.

"Ginny, I have someone I think you should definitely meet!" Slughorn said exuberantly, throwing his arm around her shoulder and leading her away from Dean, "Now, I thought it was most unfortunate that you weren't at my dinner last month, because you of all people should meet her, but she was kind enough to come back for my little party here. Ginny Weasley, I'd like you to meet Gwenog Jones."

Ginny's eyes popped out of her head as she stared at the tall strong woman in front of her. The Holyhead Harpies had always been her favorite Quidditch team, and Gwenog Jones was definitely her favorite player. When she first started flying, she would secretly pretend she was Gwenog Jones flying through the sky.

Gwenog held out her hand to shake, Ginny took it, trying to get her surprise and shaking under control. She could feel a stupid grin creeping on her face, "The Professor was just telling me that you're a Chaser on the Gryffindor house team. I started as a Chaser on the Gryffindor house team too!"

"Um...that's...that's great," Ginny stuttered, feeling her cheeks flushing profusely.

"Ginny is being very modest. She happens to be the best Chaser on the team. I saw her flying in the last game. Very good, very good indeed. Oh look!" He said suddenly, seeing the door open again, "Harry m'boy!" he yelled over their heads as he shuffled back to the door, leaving her with Gwenog, alone.

"How long have you been playing?" She asked.

"Well..." Ginny said, her breath shallowing further, "When I was little I would steal my brother's brooms. I have six, you see--"

"Six brothers? You must know how to take a beating!" Gwenog said with a laugh.

"Well, yeah," Ginny nodded, "So I've been flying since I was little, secretly though. But I got on the house team as seeker last year when Harry was banned. Then I moved to Chaser this year, but it's what I like to play better."

"You play both? That's fantastic! Most people can only master one position, if any at all," and with that, Gwenog went off, telling Ginny about players that have come and gone from the Harpies, how the tryouts and reserve teams work, the season schedule and their biggest rivals weaknesses. Ginny was enthralled beyond all belief.

"Ginny...?" said a voice beside her. She looked up and there stood Dean, looking slightly miserable.

"Yeah?" she asked hurriedly. Dean had just interrupted Gwenog telling her a fantastic story about their usage of the Tompkins Maneuver and was just about to get to the climax.

Dean stood there awkwardly. Ginny's eyes widened and she turned to Gwenog, "This is Dean, he's another one of the chasers."

"Oh that's great!" Gwenog said, taking a sip of her drink and looking over Ginny's head, "Well, it was great to meet you Ginny. Best of luck with the season. Maybe I'll talk to the scouts about coming and seeing you guys play. Be sure to keep that house cup with Gryffindor, okay?"

"Definitely," Ginny nodded, smiling at that last statement, as Gwenog shook her hand and walked away.

Fighting the seething feeling that Dean had interrupted what could have been a very important conversation in her life, she turned to him.

"Who was that?" he asked casually.

She gaped, "Gwenog Jones. Just the best female Quidditch Chaser in the league."

"Neat," Dean said casually, not at all excited, "Listen, do you want to go outside?"

Ginny shrugged, "I guess," she said as she followed him to the door. Pulling herself out of the trance she had just been in, she allowed him to lead her though the castle and out to the snow laden courtyard.

"I just wanted some fresh air," he said, brushing snow off of one of benches in the deserted courtyard and taking a seat before wiping the seat beside him and gesturing Ginny to sit down. Something in his voice made it clear that he wasn't out here just for 'fresh air'.

The couple sat alone in the courtyard for a short time in silence, before Dean cut in.

"I have your Christmas present," he said suddenly, reaching into the pocket of his robes.

"Oh!" she said, reaching into her own robes, "I have yours too."

"Great!" he said, "Ladies get their presents first though. So put yours away."

"Er, okay," she said, stuffing it back into her robes. Dean slowly pulled a thin box out of this pocket and presented in front of her, opening it slowly.

Inside the box was a glittering necklace, perfect in all ways. From the thin silver chain hung a diamond encrusted pendant of a broom. It was beautiful. She gasped as she suddenly felt very inferior with the bar of Honeyduke's chocolate that was waiting for him in her robes.

"Dean, that is really beautiful!" Ginny said, surprising even herself.

"Oh, I'm really glad you like it. I thought really hard about what to get you," Dean said, taking the necklace out of it's box and motioning to put it on Ginny. She nodded. He walked around behind her and slipped the necklace on her neck as she held back her hair, clasping it with some effort before taking his seat back on the bench.

"I just thought you deserved something really nice," he said with a shrug.

She toyed it around in her fingers, "It's really great."

Dean smiled, his eyes sparkling in the moonlight, he held her gaze for quite some time before taking her hands.

"Ginny, I really want to tell you something," he said with a tone of sincerity.

"Okay..." she said, feeling slightly uncomfortable for reasons she did not know.

"It's just. You know, I've been seeing you for awhile now and I've really enjoyed it. You've been so supportive and helpful and just a great girl for me," he seemed to be stalling. She didn't say anything. He gulped.

"I guess, well, what I'm trying to say is...Ginny," he took a deep breath, "I'm in love with you,"

An icy jolt hit her stomach as his eyes stared expectantly at her. She knew what she should say in return, she knew what the proper response was. The truth was, however, she couldn't get it to exit her lips. Panic rising in her, she tried to save face.

"I...wow...Dean, are you sure? Because, well, I don't know, I just don't think we really know what love is yet," she was searching, "I mean, we're...I'm only 15. I--"

"I know what it feels like," he said powerfully, straightening his back as he continued, "I think about you constantly. You are always in my head, in the best way. If I could, I would spend every minute with you. I want to do everything to make you happy. I would do anything for you. I care as much about your happiness as I do about my own. You're almost more important to me than I am to myself."

Ginny gaped, stunned. There was nothing to say. Every word that could come out of her mouth would be wrong. She thought fast, her brain clogged by the flurry of information she just received.

She was extremely fond of Dean, very much so. He was really a very good boyfriend when it came right down to it. He was caring, he was funny, he was patient,yes he sometimes put his foot in his mouth, but he was usually able to remove it. She could definitely feel somewhere inside of her that she did have some love for him. But she knew instinctually that deep down, she was not 'in love' with him. And she wished with every part of herself at that moment, that she could change that.

Dean was staring at her with a look that was losing steam fast, pain starting to bleed into his eyes. She stuttered, trying to make words that would alleviate the situation, "Thank you. That is really sweet--"

Dean's face dropped officially, "Oh...well...you don't have to say it back. I just wanted you to know." He shrugged, attempting a casual gesture.

"Dean," she said quickly, finding some semblance of words and grabbing his hands tighter, "I'm not saying that I don't care about you. I just, well, I don't want to say something as big as that without knowing one hundred percent for sure that it's how I feel. So...I can't say it back...I'm sorry."

It killed her to see the look on Dean's face,"Well, okay, at least you know."

"I do really like knowing," she said, looking him in the eye, "it's nice to know..."

"Yeah," he said quietly, "Do you want to go back into the castle? It's getting cold out here."

"Okay," she said, standing and putting her hand into the pocket of her robes. Her hand hit the bar of Honeyduke's chocolate. She just couldn't bear to give him such a mediocre present at the end of that conversation. Her heart dropped even further in her stomach.

They walked back to the Gryffindor common room in silence, and at the bottom of the stairs, Dean kissed her lightly.

"Have a good holiday," he said, not waiting for her to respond as he went up the stairs of the boy's dormitory.

Ginny felt a sting in the corner of her eye, sighed deeply, and made her way to the stairs of her dormitory, never having felt worse.


	36. Loose Lips

**Happy Holidays Readers! Here's a little Holiday Humor for you in Chapter 36 of Fantastical Truths**

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Her scissors flew quickly as she cut strips of red and green paper, adding to the accumulating piles that littered her bedroom floor. One by one, she taped the strips into round links, stringing them together into endless paper chains that snaked through her room without end. The mind numbing work was very busying for her hands. However, it was not busying her mind the way she had hoped.

Regardless of how she tried, she could not relieve herself of the guilt that she felt about Dean and the night before. Dean had already slipped out and left for holiday when Ginny had descended into the common room with her trunk first thing that morning, adding to her mounting unease that had started in her relatively sleepless night.

What should she have done? She asked herself again and again, Dean's downtrodden face swimming through her thoughts. Should she have lied? Should she go back and tell him that she had been mistaken, she really loved him too? She thought on it over and over again and every time came back with the same answer. Of course not.

It was an odd thing plaguing her, because to be honest, she had done nothing wrong. For once, she had done everything right! But as the day progressed, as her mind mulled over it with painful repetition, as she built chain link upon chain link on her bedroom floor, it became obvious that for the first time in her life she had met a situation where the 'right' decision was, without question, more hurtful than the wrong.

A part of her wished that she could go inside of her heart and shake the contents around until they fell into place in such a way that she did love him in the way he explained to her. If for no other reason because the look on his face had been so painful, and she could only imagine how much courage he must have mustered up to express something so raw.

The other part of her, however, was beginning to bubble with anger and frustration, which could be seen in the increasingly jagged cuts she was making in the paper. This wasn't her fault. She couldn't fix it. Why was she made to feel a criminal because something wasn't in her heart the way it was in his? She liked Dean, she really liked Dean.

"Shouldn't that be enough?" she asked herself aloud as she blew a chunk of hair out of her face and started in taping together a new chain. She was only fifteen after all, there were years ahead for proclamations of love.

Ginny inwardly wished that Ron and Hermione hadn't been on such terrible terms and that she could have come to Christmas the way she had the year before. Though, she came to think of it, with the state that Hermione had been in lately, and with her recent jading against men, maybe she wouldn't have been the best person to talk to. The only women in the house were her mother, who was out of the question, and Fleur. She shuddered just at the thought of approaching Phlegm for advice.

What she really needed was someone who could see it from a completely objective view. Someone who wouldn't take a side and could just tell her how to react, and how to not feel so terrible.

Ginny laid her scissors hastily on her bedside table, next to the broom necklace Dean had given her, quickly moved to her desk and pulled out parchment and a quill. There was only one person who could give her insight she hadn't had.

_Luna,_

_I hope you're having a wonderful holiday! Did you have a good time at Slughorn's Christmas party last night? Harry told me that it was a very interesting evening. It was exciting for me, I got to meet Gwenog Jones! I'm sorry I didn't get to see you at the party, but I got pulled away for most of the night by Dean._

_I'll just jump right to it. Dean told me he was in love with me last night. And well, I didn't know what to do. I just, I don't feel the same way that he explained, so I told him that I couldn't say it back without knowing that I really meant it. He was pretty down about it. Actually, I think 'down' would be an understatement, I kind of feel like I crushed him. _

_ I feel terrible. Like a heartless harpy. He was so courageous as to go out on a limb and tell me this and I just broke that limb and watched him fall off of it. But I couldn't lie, could I? _

_What do you think? I need your sage advice. _

_Ginny_

Ginny read over the letter hastily, making sure she had explained the situation clearly. Satisfied, she sealed it and ran down the stairs to the kitchen, letter in hand. Her mother was alone in the kitchen, moving her wand to stir four pots at once as Ginny entered.

"Oh good, I was just about to come upstairs and fetch you. Could you set the table for me?" she asked distractedly as she added spice to one of the pots.

"Sure, but can I use Errol first? I need to send this letter."

"Oh, I'm sorry dear," her mother said with a shrug, "I just sent him out with an order. Maybe Ron will let you use Pigwidgeon? He and Harry are in his room. Oh, and can you make sure he's cleaning his room? How he can mess it that badly without]having been here for four months, I do not know."

"Alright, let me send this and I'll be right back."

"Hurry up though. Dinner is almost ready," she called over her shoulder as she charmed the spice rack to open and do her bidding.

"Okay Mum," she called back, then hurried up many flights of stairs to Ron's room and rapped quickly on the door.

There was a heavy audible sigh, "I'm doing it right now!"

"Ron, it's me," she said with what had to be an audible eye roll.

"Oh," she heard him say as the door swung open. Harry stood at the opening of the door, inadvertently blocking her way.

She smiled up at him quickly as she leaned tightly around him to address Ron.

"Did Mum send you up to check if I was cleaning my room?" Ron asked, lying back on his bed and rolling his eyes.

"No, I was wondering if I can use Pig," she said.

"Accio letter!" cried a voice from behind her, and her letter shot directly out of her hand and over her head.

Ginny gasped and flipped around, coming face to face with the mischievous faces of Fred and George.

"What do we have here?" asked Fred, floating the letter directly out of Ginny's reach.

"Give it back," Ginny growled in a deep voice that sounded significantly more vicious than her own as she attempted to jump and grab the letter from the air. This was the last thing she needed.

"I think we have a love letter in our midst bro, what do you think?" George said as Fred magicked it to him far above her head. She could feel blood rushing to her face at an alarming rate.

"I said GIVE IT BACK."

Fred smiled widely, "Oh yes, judging by the little sister's response, we definitely have a love letter."

"It's not a--" she cried, almost catching the letter before Fred flicked his wand and the letter rose higher.

"Think I should open it, bro?" he asked as Ginny tried to jump even higher, her fury and embarrassment getting ready to burst.

"If that is a love letter, I don't want to hear it!" called Ron, who had not moved off of his bed.

She attempted to jump even higher, to no avail. George antagonized her by waving it back and forth, dipping it to her level, then pulling it back up. Then, snatching the letter from the air, he held it fully above his head and she watched in slow motion as his other hand moved through the air and his finger slipped under the seal.

He had gone too far. Her hand instinctively flew to her own wand, her bat bogey curse quickly flying to her lips. However, suddenly a seeker fast hand shot over her head and entered the fray, plucking the letter from Fred's hand without warning. Harry quickly backed away and into the room, letter behind his back.

Fury and embarrassment hit a pitch inside of her and she flung around and drew her wand on Harry.

"Drop it!" she growled.

His hands shot into the air in shock, the letter dropping to the ground, "Whoa! I was only trying to help! I promise," he said, toeing the letter that was now on the ground in her direction, hands still raised.

Nodding curtly, she flung around to see her brothers shooting down the stairs, laughing all the way.

"I will get you back for that! You had better lock your door while you sleep!" she cried over their tumbling footsteps before taking a deep breath and turning back into Ron's bedroom. Ron was sitting up, his face mingled with amusement and a bit of fear. Harry still had his hands in the air.

"Sorry Harry, I didn't know you were trying to help. I sometimes forget you aren't as much of a prat as my brothers," she said with a feeble smile as she returned her wand to the loop on her jeans and bent down to pick up the letter.

Harry lowered his hands and gave a nervous laugh, "It's okay, I just didn't think I'd want anyone reading any love letter I'd written to anyone."

"Well, it isn't a love letter, but I appreciate it all the same," she said as she finally made her way to Pigwidgeon.

"Oh, okay then," Harry said distractedly as he followed her. The little owl had been worked up by the scene at the doorway and was hooting in fast and high circles.

Harry snatched the owl from the air and held him steady for Ginny as she tied the letter to the little owl's twitching leg, "Thanks Harry," she said with a hint of suprise as Harry took owl to the window, opened it and leaned out.

"This is going to Luna?" Harry asked from the window.

"Er, yeah...why?" she asked.

"Oh...," he paused, his cheeks turning slightly pink, Ginny figured from the cold night air, "you, uh, well...you never told Pig where to go..." he said as he let Pig out into the cold night.

"Oh, yeah," Ginny said as Harry shut the window, "Thanks, I'm really sorry I almost cursed you." Relief released her tightened shoulders as Pigwidgeon soared further away with the letter.

"No problem," Harry said, taking a seat on Ron's bed.

"Who said you could use Pig, anyway?" Ron asked out of nowhere. She had almost forgotten he was in the room.

"What, did you have a pressing message to send to Lav Lav? You do know you can't snog through owl post, right?" Ginny said with a grin as she went to the door, making Harry erupt in laughter as she left.

Like any other set of days in the Burrow, the holiday season was not a quiet affair. That settled well with Ginny, as it gave her a great distraction.

Having 'proved' herself, as Fred had put it, the boys now allowed her to fly in their annual Christmas Eve Quidditch game. Teaming with Ron keeping and George beating, Ginny wiped the floor with Bill, who was stupid enough to attempt to play Chaser against her. It was also found out in that game that there was one position Harry wasn't a pro at, as his first time as keeper was woefully bad. Ginny, Ron, and George walked away with a victory of 220-80.

The brisk cold against her face during the game was warmed up significantly after dinner with a lovely round of cocoa and egg nog in the sitting room. Cuddled with her favorite blanket, she sat close to the fire and listened in on the conversations around the room as Celestina Warbeck's songs piped from the wireless, the same songs she had heard every Christmas Eve for her entire life.

Lupin, who had dropped in, was in a seemingly serious conversation with her father and Harry, Fred and George were cleaning up a major mess that was caused by their Exploding Snap game, and her mother was pointedly looking off out of the window as Fleur complained endlessly about the music issuing from the wireless. If Ginny was honest, she had never been much of a fan of Celestina Warbeck herself, but Fleur's sudden hatred for it made Ginny absolutely love the melodic tones filling the room.

Smiling to herself, she got up quietly and exited to the kitchen to refill her cocoa. The kitchen was spotless after dinner, which had to have been Fleur's doing, she thought, as it was usually a clutter of dishes after the Christmas Eve meal. Making her way to the pot of cocoa, she heard bustling behind her.

Turning to see who had joined her, she caught glimpse of a kind smile on her father's face.

"Alright Button?" he asked her as he met her stride and they walked together to the counter.

"Definitely," Ginny answered.

"Didn't get a chance to fully thank you for the muggle ladio. It's really very interesting," he said, laying his arm around her shoulder and giving her a side hug.

Ginny laughed, "Actually dad, lesson one, I think it's called a _radio_."

"Radio! I knew it was something like that! I'll have to see if any of the batteries I have in the garage will fit into it. I wonder what kind of music muggles listen to..." he trailed off as he set down two matching mugs and reached for the eggnog.

"One for Molly," he murmured to himself as he poured the first mug. "And one," he said, filling the second mug only halfway with eggnog before reaching forward and scooping up the bottle of firewhiskey that was sitting at the back of the counter, "for me!" he whispered, pouring a generous helping into the mug and swishing it around to mix it up thoroughly. "Don't tell your mum I put that much in, you know how she hates the stuff."

Ginny smiled at him, "It'll be our little secret. It's a holiday, you have to celebrate."

Her father nodded, "Merry Christmas Button, I love you." He placed a kiss on her forehead, rumpled her hair, and left her alone in the kitchen.

Ginny turned back to the counter and grabbed the ladle to the cocoa, refilling her mug to the brim.

"Did you make it?" asked a voice directly behind her. Ginny jumped and scalded her hand as the ladle splashed back into the steaming pot.

"You scared the daylights out of me!" she said as she spun around to face Harry, blowing on her hand.

Harry was leaning back against the kitchen table directly in front of her, an empty mug in his hand, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to--sneak up on you like that. You okay?"

Ginny blew one last time on her hand and shook it out, "Yeah, I'm fine. Just surprised me is all."

"Mind if I--" he started, point at the cocoa that she had inadvertently been guarding.

"Oh!" she said in surprise,"yeah, sorry." She quickly moved to the right to allow him access.

Harry filled his glass, added an obscene amount of marshmallows to the top, and leaned next to her against the counter, "I was just asking if you'd made the cocoa" he asked.

"Oh, yeah. That was all me," she nodded

Harry sipped his cocoa, "It's really good."

Ginny met his gaze, sipping her own cocoa, "Glad you approve."

The two teenagers stayed where they were, sipping their cocoa alone in the kitchen for quite some time. The voices from the other room became slightly louder, her mother's voice most of all.

"Good game today," Harry said, breaking the silence in the kitchen, "I never knew how bloody terrifying you are to a keeper."

Ginny snorted into her cocoa, turning slightly red as Harry laughed at her. She looked up and shot him a wicked smirk, "I never knew you were such a miserable keeper."

"Thanks Gin," Harry said with a wry smile.

"Hey, you can't be the Chosen One at everything," Ginny said, shrugging.

Harry's face seemed to falter quickly before he came back with a laugh, "So...I'm thinking we need to step practices up a notch when we get back from holiday."

With that, Harry and Ginny fell into a long conversation about the team, passing back ideas for increased efficiency, laughing about their last match and talking about each of the players in passing, one by one.

Ginny reached to help herself to more cocoa as she told Harry about her talk with Gwenog Jones.

"She was really nice," Ginny said as Harry took her mug and filled it for her, "Thanks," she said, taking it, "Toss some marshmallows on there?"

Harry did as asked, tossing them in one at a time, making Ginny roll her eyes with a smile, "Anyway," Harry said when he was finished using her mug as a Quidditch ring, "You were saying."

"Oh yeah," she said, returning to her thoughts ,"I think I made myself sound like a bit of a berk. But she did tell me that she might send some scouts to check me out on Slughorn's recommendation."

Harry's eyes widened, "Wow, that's great!" he said, "Would you want to play professionally?"

Ginny shrugged, "I never really gave it much thought," she said honestly, "but being a professional Quidditch player would be a much more interesting day job than, say, the ministry, right?"

"Maybe," Harry said, nodding, his eyes staring off out the window behind her.

Ginny's curiousity peaked as she took in his far off gaze. She sipped her marshmallow quaffle cocoa and implored him with interest, "How about you? No plans for Quidditch glory in your future?"

"Umm..." Harry kept his look distant.

"Because you'd have the easiest time if you wanted to go pro. You're better than most professional seekers and you're just playing on a house team."

"Thanks," he chuckled nervously, his cheeks twinging the slightest pink as he distractedly ran his finger around the edge of his mug, "I don't know. I don't think that it would work out," he paused, stealing a glance up at Ginny before averting his eyes back at his mug, "It's just. Um...There's other stuff--"

"that you have to do," Ginny said, surprising herself, like she had always known the end of that sentence deep down.

Harry nodded, not meeting her gaze.

"Gin Gin!" cried a highly excited voice from the doorway. Ginny looked up in surprise and saw her mother tottering into the room. Mrs. Weasley's face was highly flushed, her hair was shooting out of her bun in strange angles as she ran her hands through it.

"Oh Ginny, I'm glad I found you!" She said, pulling Ginny into a hug, "And Harry! Oh Harry, I'm so glad you came to stay with us for Christmas," She blubbered on, pulling Harry into the hug as well. Biting her lip, pressed against her mother and Harry as her mother pulled them in, she caught Harry'e eye. Their laughter and confusion was barely containable as Mrs. Weasley rocked them back and forth. She pulled away slowly, leaning and giving a bit of her weight to Ginny.

"Mum?" Ginny asked warily, taking in her mothers appearance fully for the first time since entering the room, "Are you alright?"

"Alright?" Mrs. Weasley spluttered, emitting a high pitched giggle that was worthy of a thirteen year old girl, "I'm fantastic! Best I've felt in weeks!"

Ginny gulped as she started to piece together exactly what the problem might have been.

But she didn't have to do anything about it. At that very moment, her father peeked his head around the doorway, a look of pure fear and guilt on his face.

"Molly?" He asked, taking her from Ginny's grasp, "I think you need a glass of water."

"Oh no no no!" Mrs. Weasley said, dismissing the idea with a wave of her wand. A pot on the opposite side of the room flew into the air and hit the wooden floor with a bang, "Ooops!" she cried with a buckling giggle, "I want more eggnog!"

Mr. Weasley nudged Harry out of the way and filled a glass of water. He tried to hand it to his wife.

"You don't want any more of that eggnog. That was...not good eggnog. Trust me," Arthur said, his guilt bleeding through his voice. "Maybe you should sit."

"Oh, I'm fine. I don't want to sit," she slurred, clinging onto him. "Oh Arthur..." she sighed, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Er..." Arthur blanched, looking at the kids from the corner of his eye. Ginny's stomach dropped as she feared what was to come next, but it never did. Her mother seemed to gain back a few of her bearings as she scanned the room and saw Ginny again.

Her mother fumbled around in her apron pocket and held out a ragged piece of odd blue parchment, "I think this might be for you. Pigwigidy, er....Pighyeon...Pi--oh forget it! Ron's owl just brought it but it had no name so I read it to figure out where...who...which of you it was for," she said with a confused giggle.

"You WHAT!" Ginny cried, turning white and snatching what had to be Luna's response from her mother's hand. She felt every nerve in her body begin to panic, "You read it?"

"Oh I did, and let me tell you something, Ginny," she slurred heavily, sloshing her water glass around as Mr. Weasley tried to sit her down again. "Let me give you some advice! And you too!" she said, pointing at Harry, "Harry," she said lovingly.

She turned hazily back to Ginny, "I know it's painful to turn someone down, I had to do it in my day. But I don't think you should feel bad if you don't love Dean, because there are really so many wonderful young men out there that you could love." she paused, motioning her arm out Ginny's side, "I mean, take Harry for instance!" She said, smiling widely as she swayed with her eyes closed, "Isn't that right Harry?"

"Alright Molly," Arthur said, taking full control of her, "I think it's time for bed."

"No no no!" she said, brushing off her husband. "You two have to listen to me! I'm just saying it's not every day you meet someone so perfect, Ginny! Harry here is such a catch!" She turned quickly to Harry, "You don't have a girlfriend, do you Harry? Because Ginny here--"

"Molly! You're embarrass--"

"What Arthur?!" She cried, "You know as well as I do how cute their babies would be!"

"Ooookay," Arthur said quickly, his face beet red as he apologized to Harry and Ginny with his eyes, "Come on, time for bed."

Arthur ushered Molly from the room as quickly as possible, Molly still speaking dreamily the whole way, "Ginny Potter. That just sounds so nice, doesn't it Arthur?"

Never had there been a more awkward moment. They both stood gobsmacked and completely mortified in the kitchen. The words still seemed to be echoing off the cabinets. Neither looked at each other, or made any movement whatsoever. Ginny could feel her cheeks burning so hard that she was surprised flames weren't licking her eyelids. Finally, after what felt like a year, Ginny spoke.

"And that, is why my Mum is not allowed to drink."

She braved it and caught his eye, feeling a smirk grace her lips that she couldn't quite conceal. And quickly, bursting through the cloud of awkwardness, came relief by way of Harry's sudden ringing laughter. It was a drug. And it was undeniably infectious. She felt her senses let go as the hilarity of the situation took hold of her body, and she too buckled over. Laughter stronger than she had felt in so long coursed through her, shaking her limbs so that it was difficult to stand. Tears started to roll down Ginny's cheeks. Harry was leaning on the counter for support, his head bobbing up and down like a rag doll. Slowly she regained her motor skills enough to straighten her body, and she wiped her cheeks, chuckles still leaving her at an alarming rate. Harry straightened up, wiping his own eyes slightly as he took a series of deep breaths.

"I always had my suspicions, but I think my Mum is going to arrange our marriage," she giggled.

"You'd better not be complaining," he retorted, "From what she says, I'm quite the catch!"

He shot her a wicked smile as she rolled her eyes, "You are--"

"Perfect? Because that's what your Mum called me."

"Nah," she said, sending him back a wicked smile of her own, "I was more going for 'insufferable git', myself."

Harry looked at her as he picked up his mug and downed the last of his cocoa, "I think I'll stick with perfect," he said with a smirk as he placed his empty mug in the sink.

"Agree to disagree then," Ginny shrugged as she downed her own lukewarm cocoa and turned to exit the kitchen.

"Whatever you say, _Ginny Potter," _he said with an audible snort, "I'm sorry, that was just too funny."

She spun to face him once more. "You are never going to let me live this down, are you?" she asked as a new peal of laughter came from Harry.

"Never," he said with a smile as he brushed closely past her and exited the kitchen.

She sighed. "Git," was all she could say as she shook her head, a laugh still playing on her lips.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed! Leave me some holiday cheer in the review box if you feel so inclined!


	37. Pulling Teeth

"Hogwarts Castle!" She cried as she threw the floo powder up into the air, and the green flames engulfed her instantly. It was a testament to her completely distracted mind that she couldn't even feel the gut wrenching motions of floo travel. Her mind and the knot in her stomach were dedicated to Dean and her reunion with him. Said knot in the stomach was not of the butterfly nature, but rather it felt like a rope twisting around her insides. Needless to say, it was not pleasant. If she was honest with herself, she didn't want to face him at all, especially not after the letter he had sent her.

Originally, Luna's letter had given her some perspective:

_Dear Ginny,_

_I put on my Dad's wackspurt siphons to help me because I'm not quite sure how to best help. After sitting with them on and allowing them to clear my mind I was able to have some good insight. If Dean loves you, then he loves you. If you don't love him, then you don't love him. It's really quite simple. You can't make yourself have feelings, they just have to grow from inside of you. And I think, if Dean loves you, he will respect you for your feelings. Or, at least, he should. Maybe I should bring the wackspurt siphons back with me and he could get some insight with them if he's having problems accepting your answer. However, I believe you did the right thing. Never play with feelings that you don't really have, they will only bite you in the end._

_My holiday is very nice, thank you! I did some painting in my room and I'm helping my father with an extra large printing of the next issue. It's going to be a good one!_

_With warm thoughts,_

_Luna_

If anything, it had made her realize that if she did have any kind of feelings for Dean, it would be good to write him.

After agonizing over what to write, and after decimating endless amounts of parchment and chewing through two quills, she finally just sent him the chocolate bar that she had originally planned on giving him for Christmas, and asked about his holiday. Keeping it short, sweet, and to the point, she tried to subtly emphasis that she did actually care.

What she received back, however, was short and to the point, but she couldn't say it was sweet.

_Ginny,_

_I hope you had a nice holiday, too. Thanks for the chocolate bar. Come see me when you get back to school tomorrow._

_Dean_

There was just something missing. An exclamation point, maybe? A 'Can't wait to see you?'? She couldn't put her finger on it. All she knew was that after receiving that letter the last thing she wanted to do was see the boy who had written it, because it certainly did not seem like he saw things the way Luna did.

'Maybe Luna should bring back her wackspurt siphons,' Ginny thought with a dark chuckle as she watched fireplace after fireplace fly past her view. The floo trip to Hogwarts was a long one, with endless fireplaces in between. She had just started to feel the woozy feeling take over her body when the floo suddenly spit her out onto a rug. Instantly, the scent of Hogwarts assaulted her nose. She was back.

"Good Evening, Miss Weasley. Kindly brush your robes in the fireplace so you don't get too much ash on the rug. Welcome back," Professor McGonagall mumbled, not bothering to look up from the parchment she was scratching on. Ginny shrugged, did as she was told, and followed Harry and Ron, who had flooed directly before her, out of Professor McGonagall's office.

"I swear, every time I do that it gets worse," Harry moaned, shaking his head as ash fell from his hair.

"You just have to keep your mind on something else, I hardly even noticed I was flooing," Ginny said as she followed Harry around the corridor.

"Exactly. I was thinking about how good breakfast was this morning," Ron added.

Harry groaned, "The last thing I would ever want to think about when I'm flooing is food. I don't want to puke and have it end up on some unsuspecting witches' carpet."

"Awww," Ginny mock cooed, patting him on the back as Ron exclaimed, "That would be bloody brilliant!"

Harry swatted her hand away with a laugh, "Don't patronize me Weasley."

Ron grunted, "What did I do?"

"I was talking to your sister," Harry said, eyeing Ginny through narrow slits and a smirk. She shot him a radiant smile.

"Just trying to make you feel better!"

"And you did a great job at it, too..." Harry murmured, taking off his glasses and rubbing his face as Ron spoke the password to the Fat Lady.

The Fat Lady looked down and impatiently told Ron no. For a second Ginny smiled and wondered if the Fat Lady knew how much she didn't want to go inside.

"Harry! Ginny!" cried a voice that Ginny would know anywhere. Hermione was barreled down the corridor from behind them with a happiness that she hadn't seen from the girl since, well, to be honest, since Ron had started snogging 'Lav-Lav'.

Ginny couldn't help but smile as she was pulled into a hug and was assaulted by Hermione's bushy hair. Hermione let go and pulled Harry into a hug as well. Ron might as well have not even been there.

"Abstinence," Hermione said clearly.

"Wha--" Harry and Ginny said, only to chuckle as the Fat Lady nodded and the portrait hole opened.

The four walked into the bustling common room. Lavender attacked Ron immediately, plucking him off from their pack like a cheetah preying on a gazelle. To Ginny's amazement, Hermione didn't walk away or lose the smile from her face.

This would have hit Ginny as more odd if she hadn't spotted the back of Dean's head at that very second, sitting with Seamus on the far end of the common room.

"Coming Ginny?" Hermione asked from behind her. She turned to see Harry and Hermione staring at her expectantly. Every piece of her wanted to follow them instead.

She sighed, "No thanks, I said I'd meet Dean." She waved half heartedly goodbye and crossed the buzzing common room. Seamus spotted her as she was weaving through three second years in a group 'welcome back' hug and gave her a jovial wave. She pulled on a smile and waved back. Dean didn't so much as turn around.

"How was your holiday?" Seamus called as she got closer. She answered with a smile and a silent thumbs up as she took the open seat next to Dean.

Any compulsion to give Dean a hello hug or kiss vanished as he glanced at her and then went back to the card castle they were building without so much as a 'Hi.'

She recovered quickly. "Hi," she said casually to Dean, trying to keep her voice neutral.

"Good break?" He asked, adding a card to make a turret.

"...Yeah. It was nice," she said, "Yours?"

"The usual--"

"He came to my house for New Years and we went to the Kestral's match against Puddlemere on New Year's day," Seamus said, hardly able to hold in his excitement.

"Oh I'm jealous! That was a good game. We listened to some of it on the wireless," Ginny said, finding it a relief to be talking to Seamus instead as she turned her attention to him.

"You are so wrong. That was a fantastic game!" Seamus exclaimed as he went into a play by play for Ginny, Dean continuing to build his snap castle throughout it all. It did sound like it had been a fantastic game, and Ginny nodded and half listened to Seamus's retelling. The other part of her mind was completely preoccupied by the icy reception she had received from Dean. It felt like a tangible wall was between them. Though, to be honest, it was close to what she had expected.

"They actually had to test the snitch to see who'd gotten their fingers on it first," Seamus said, "I've never seen that before, have you?"

Ginny shrugged, "I don't think I have. Er...have you Dean?"

Dean looked up from his castle with a blank look on his face, "Not until then. It was pretty interesting," and he went right back to focusing on what he was doing.

Ginny squirmed, Seamus didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. Gesturing wildly, he laughed, "Pfff! Interesting? That's the understatement of the yea--".

Time suddenly slowed. Ginny saw what was coming from a mile away. She had grown up with six brothers and knew from experience that it was time to duck and cover. She winced and ducked low in her chair as she watched Seamus's hand connect with the exploding snap castle in the middle of a huge gesture. The castle burst with a ferocious and smoky 'boom!' and cards and parchment scattered everywhere.

Coughing out some rogue ash that had gotten into her mouth, Ginny hesitantly ducked her head out from under her hands to assess the damage. Regardless of what the feeling at the table had been before, she couldn't help but burst into laughter.

Seamus was a sight. Frozen in the same wild gesture he had never been able to complete, his eyes were wide, his face and clothes covered in black soot, and his hair shooting out at extreme angles. Ginny's laugh rang through the common room, and quickly Dean's laugh became even louder.

"That was classic!" Dean cried through hiccups of laughter,"That couldn't have gone better if I'd planned it!"

"Seamus!" Ginny got out with some difficulty, "Are you alright?"

The two only laughed harder when Seamus made the tiniest of nods, his eyes still wide like he had seen a ghost and his face completely blacked out. Slowly, he removed himself from the table and walked up the dormitory stairs without a single word.

The fit of laughs slowly died down at the table that was now solely occupied by Ginny and Dean. Ginny couldn't deny it and thanked Seamus in her head, that was exactly what she had needed. Laughing with Dean felt good. Each laugh seemed to break though the awkward ice a bit more. Ginny wiped the tear and batted her fringe from her eyes, looking up at Dean. He leaned back in his chair, assessed the damage, and brought out his wand to right the explosion. Once that was done, he brushed off the ash that had landed on him and stood up.

"Want to go down to dinner?" He asked as he stood up quickly and took an advancing step toward the door.

"Sure!" Ginny replied with relief.

Without looking back, he made his way to the portrait hole with her in his wake. Quickly, he stepped out of the way and let her pass before him through the portrait hole.

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

The new term picked up speed and within a few weeks it felt as though there had never been a Christmas holiday at all. Quidditch was back on and homework was piling up. Everything felt pretty much the same in Ginny's Hogwarts world. The one distinct difference was her boyfriend.

From the beginning of their time together, Dean had been an exuberant and warm person. He had been a loud talker with a great laugh. He had liked to hold hands and cuddle in front of the fire on cold nights and he'd always enjoyed sneaking into deserted corridors for a little snog session. Generally, he'd been a very fun boyfriend who had a lot to offer to a relationship.

The Dean that came back from break was not really any of these things. This Dean was sullen and aggressive. He kept a distance from prolonged physical affection and he was generally just cold. Though there was really no reason to, Ginny felt guilty and somewhat responsible for this change. The only logical explanation was that he was just still hurt and was putting up walls. The real Dean still had to be in there somewhere, she just had to bring him back.

It was weird, the feeling of having to force physical interaction, the feeling that she didn't know if he'd be okay with his hands down the hallway or if he would turn her down for that occasional impromptu kiss. But strides were made. The old Dean would shine out intermittently. He'd shoot her a great smile or pick her up and throw her over his shoulder on the way back from the pitch. However rare these moments were, she latched onto them as proof that the real Dean was still in there and ready to break back out.

But the process was proving to be arduously slow. January faded and February was in full swing and he still would avoid eye contact, he still wouldn't kiss her deeply. Though she wanted to, she couldn't deny the hurt that she was feeling because of the change. But more so, she definitely couldn't deny her growing frustration with this guy that was no longer acting anything like her boyfriend.

Their relationship had boiled down to one definite talking point. Dean was always old Dean when it came to Quidditch. So that's what they talked about. That's what they did. That's what their altered relationship based itself on. Talking Quidditch, playing Quidditch, flying together. It was the only time that they resembled the Ginny and Dean that they were in the beginning. The ones that laughed with each other, bantered, could talk endlessly.

Ginny found that the more time they spent together in the sky, the better their relationship got, which was positive because they were in the air a lot training for the match against Hufflepuff.

"It's really too bad they canceled the Hogsmeade trip tomorrow," Dean said as they reentered the castle after a very successful practice, bumping himself into her on purpose, "It would have been really nice to just spend the day with you."

Ginny looked at him in surprise,"Oh. You'd never mentioned you wanted to."

"Yeah, well.." Dean shrugged, neglecting to finish his sentence.

"Um..." Ginny stuttered and then grabbed onto the topic, "if you want to, we can still spend the day together tomorrow. Who needs Hogsmeade?"

Dean chuckled and was silent for a second while he rounded the corner, "I guess."

"...okay," Ginny said hesitantly. Was that all she was going to get?

"Okay," Dean said.

The walked in silence for a minute.

"Um...what do you want to do tomorrow, then?" She asked.

"I don't know."

Ginny had an odd feeling like she was pulling teeth, "Okay. We could...go on a fly over the lake? Go to the kitchens?" She paused, feeling a little brave and hoping that maybe she could get some sort of rise out of him, "Spend the day in the abandoned corridor??"

She saw the hint of a smile on Dean's face at that last bit, "All those sounds good. I do have that Apparition class, but I've got the rest of the day free."

"Okay!" Ginny said, latching on quickly, "Well, we've got all day, so we can do all of that."

"Sounds good," Dean said.

"Right, sounds good." But somehow it didn't sound as good as she wanted it to. All she wanted to do was scream 'Have an opinion!', but she decided to let it slide. Maybe some good strides could be made on their day together.

However, the fates aligned against them. Those strides were going to have no way of being made on that day.

Ginny and Dean met in the common room Saturday morning. She gave him a tentative smile which he actually returned. The two went down to breakfast, talking about what route they'd want to take on their fly for the day after Dean's Apparition class.

"Meet me in the common room after your class and we'll go down," Ginny said as she stood up from the table and pecked him quickly on the cheek.

"Okay," Dean said, helping himself to more breakfast.

"Okay, we'll I'll see you then," Ginny said, hesitating in her leaving.

"Okay," Dean said without looking at her. He turned to Seamus to start talking about their upcoming class.

A fire of frustration that had been kindling inside of her flaired up, but for once she held her tongue and walked away, shaking her head. It was definite, she couldn't handle this much longer.

Ginny entered the common room and had barely sat down before the portrait hole burst open.

"Ginny!" yelled a voice in a combo of panic and relief, making her jump out of her skin. Turning to the voice, she was terribly surprised as she saw Harry running at her.

"What?" she asked skeptically, her nerves suddenly on end as she took in his blood drained expression.

Harry hesitated, "We need to get Hermione," he said quickly, "Where is she?"

"Um...we'll find her. What's going on? What happened?"

Harry was silent for a second. He was shaking.

Ginny's nerves spiked. Grabbing his arm, she steered him to a couch.

Harry took a breath and steadied himself as they sat on the couch, "Um...," he said, glimpsing at Ginny before quickly looking away. He took another breath. "Ron...he...Ron was just poisioned."

Ginny's vision went black. Panic exploded through her veins, "What!" She screamed, jumping up from the couch.

Ginny's outburst seemed to have calmed Harry. Quickly, he grabbed her hand and attempted to pull her back down onto the couch. She didn't budge, "What happened!?"

"Ginny, he's fine. Sit down and I'll tell you what happened," he said, giving her hand a slight tug. She obeyed, her eyes wide as plates.

Harry relayed to her the stor of how Ron had accidentally eaten the Chocolate Cauldrons that Romilda Vane had spiked with love potion, how he had taken him to Slughorn's office and fixed him up, then how Ron had been the only one to drink from the poisoned mead that Slughorn had given them, and finally how Harry had instinctively found the bezoar.

"He's up in the hospital wing and I think your family knows by now," Harry finished, still holding Ginny's rigid hand. He gulped, "I'm so sorry I ran in here in a panic and scared you."

"Damn right you did!" Ginny burst before pulling herself together. "Sorry," she said, giving him a small apologetic smile as she felt herself relax slightly, "He's going to be totally okay?"

Harry hesitated and nodded, a slight pain shooting across his eyes, "They say he's going to be completely fine. He's going to need to stay up there for awhile but...I'm just really lucky I got him a bezoar in time."

The weight of Harry's last words hit her with force as she started to envision what could have happened. The reality of it made Ginny shake. Her brother had almost died. Ginny tugged Harry to her and pulled him into a fierce hug, "Thank you."

Ginny had hugged Harry in the past, but this time was different. He hugged her back, hard. The sudden realization of how close they had both come to losing Ron emanated between them. Ginny breathed deeply in Harry's arms and felt herself relax. His scent was...calming. Slowly he untangled his face from her hair and pulled away, looking her in the eye.

He was so close.

"Um..." Ginny stuttered, "so...I guess that's three now..."

Harry straightened up, his face twisting into confusion, "Three?"

"Weasleys you saved," Ginny said with a smile, "You going for four next? Are you trying to break a record?"

Harry laughed, "I really hope I don't," he said, "But if I have to, I'll do it a fourth time."

Ginny sighed, a laugh building up inside of her, "See," she pointed her finger into his chest, "this is precisely why my mum is trying to arrange our marriage. She wants a guard dog."

Ginny felt her face go momentarily hot as Harry laughed awkwardly. "Yeah, something like that," he said through a chuckle.

What followed was quite an awkward silence.

"Do you, uh... Do you want to go to the hospital wing?" he asked.

"Oh! Oh, yeah," she said, standing quickly.

The daylight outside the windows turned to a late afternoon haze, which slowly blended into a dark and starry night as she spent the entire day in and around the hospital wing with Harry and Hermione. Family members came and went. The story of what happened was retold again and again, along with a constant debate between Harry and Ginny about what had happened and why. Fierce hugs were doled out by Mrs. Weasley, and Fred and George too.

All in all it was a long and emotionally exhausting day. Seeing Ron unconscious in his bed was a hard reality to face, but she could only hold onto the fact that the fates had aligned to save him. It was nothing short of a miracle.

The sky was black as pitch when she wearily walked back to Gryffindor tower in the company of Fred and George. Mrs. Weasley had demanded she not walk back alone. It worked in her favor, however, as an excited Filch turned the corner yelling 'Out of their beds!' only to scream bloody murder and run the other way at the sight of Fred and George.

"Good to know we stuck with him, bro." George said with a cocky smile and a high five to his brother.

"Yeah, seems like he's having nightmares about us," Fred replied, "Ginny, why don't you give him more hell?"

Ginny laughed, "I do when I can, but I have more important things on my plate."

"There is no such thing," George said, rustling her hair.

"You really need to get your priorities in order, little sis," Fred added, "You're the only protege we have!"

"I'll keep that in mind," Ginny said with a smile as they reached the Fat Lady.

The Fat Lady, who had been snoozing, opened one bleary eye just enough and suddenly gasped in delight at the sight of the boys, "Well, are you a sight for sore eyes!" she exclaimed.

Fred and George removed their hats and bowed to her in an obnoxious manner, "How have you been Delilah?" Fred asked as he returned his hat to his head.

"Delilah?" Ginny mouthed.

"Alright sis," George said, pulling her into a hug, "No poison drinking."

"And stop dating that git of a boy," Fred said, taking his turn to hug her, "We all know that mum wants you to marry Harry anyway."

Ginny laughed, "I take it you heard her at Christmas?"

Fred stood tall and guffawed, "Heard her!? We're the ones that spiked her egg nog!"

"Best Christmas Eve ever, if I do say so myself," George added, "at your expense, of course."

Ginny only shook her head, "You are terrible people."

"Nah," Fred said, brushing her off, "We will just go to enormous lengths for a good laugh."

"Remind me never to drink anything you hand me," Ginny said as she turned to the Fat Lady, "Abstinence."

The portrait swung open as the Fat Lady sent Fred and George a final wink. "Fitting password Ginny, best you listen to it!" Fred said quickly as she waved goodbye and the portrait shut behind her. Shaking her head at the absurdity of her brothers, she entered the dark and empty common room.

"Where the hell have you been?"

Ginny jumped and let out a high pitched squeak as she turned to where the voice had come from. Dean was getting up from his chair in the corner. He was still in his day clothes.

"I have been waiting for you all day," he said in a low and aggressive voice that was full of steel, "I came back here after Apparition and you weren't here. No one had seen you all day. I went to the pitch, not there. The lake, not there. Hell, I went to Hagrid's, not there! I almost sent him into the Forbidden Forest to see if you'd crashed your broom in there or something. I have been sitting around all day waiting for you. Then _Harry _comes in twenty minutes ago...Where the hell have you been?!"

Ginny was speechless. Her plans with Dean had completely seeped out of her brain. "I--"

Dean advanced forward, "You're not even going to give me an excuse?"

The world flashed red in front of her eyes.

"Excuse!?"

Every bit of anger and frustration she felt for her mess with Dean melded with the emotions from the day and she exploded like a storm, "Excuse! Excuse Dean? How's this for an _excuse! _Ron was poisoned today. He almost DIED. I have been in the hospital wing with my family the entire day! Sorry I completely forgot to _cancel my plans _with someone who, may I add, didn't seem to want to spend the day with me anyway, but I had more important things on my mind. Like my brother's life!" She was shaking from her anger.

Dean paused, "What do you mean I didn't want to spend the day with you?" Dean shot back, completely ignoring anything about Ron.

Ginny threw her hands up in the air and let out an exasperated guffaw, "Don't give me that. You know exactly what I mean. Ugh! You haven't so much as looked me in the eye in a month and a half, Dean! You haven't given me the time of day. You haven't touched me, you haven't given me one bit of attention at all. Don't deny that you were completely less than thrilled about ANY of our plans today and--"

"No I--"

"Well if you weren't then bloody act like you care, alright? Because this whole 'silent treatment' you've been giving me isn't going to get you much further except for thrown out on your arse. I'm sick of it!" Her chest heaved as angry tears threatened to shoot from her eyes.

Dean advanced toward her a few steps, "Gin, I--"

"Don't!" she yelled, "Don't even try. If you want to try something, try and stop being a prat and maybe I'll continue talking to you. But not tonight, it's been a long day and all I want to do is go to bed." She huffed a final time and darted directly up the dormitory stairs without looking back.

* * *

We've got that Red head temper bleeding through a bit here, yeah?

This chapter is for Milkmamma, who inadvertently got me writing so much faster after sending me a bunch of reviews from the first chapters of the story. It was great! I started writing this a year ago. All I wanted to write was the kiss and their reunion after the battle. Somehow I ended up with this monster story and a year later I still haven't gotten to either one. Seeing those old chapters again really made me remember why I started this piece.

So talk to me, and lets get this story moving! Thanks for reading.


	38. Pink Elephant

"Mmnngggghhh," Ginny groaned to herself, pulling the blankets up over her face as sunlight poured through a crack in her bed curtains that she was never able to fully close. There were so many reasons why she didn't want to leave her Sunday morning cocoon. Had she really lost her temper that badly? Had she really shouted at Dean like that? He didn't deserve that...or maybe he did. Either way, it didn't make her feel any better about it.

She had been in the wrong in one sense, she told herself. He _had_ waited for her the entire day without one word...she would have to at least apologize for that. Though, in her opinion, she did feel as though she had a good excuse. Other than that though, she felt the dread in her stomach for how true her words had been, and how she couldn't take them back. The little sleep she had gotten had allowed her rationality to seep through her anger. She was going to have to talk to him, soon.

Accepting the fact that she couldn't fall back asleep, she drug herself out from under her covers and got ready for the day, finding anything she could to make her time in her room longer. An extra long shower, wand curling her hair, playing with some makeup, and changing robes four times were all products of her stalling pattern.

A fully put together Ginny looked around the room and sighed. Wasn't there anything else she could do? Well, other than her potions essay, there was really nothing else. And as bad as it sounded to face Dean, a potions essay sounded worse.

Taking a deep breath, she left her room and descended the stairs, only to spot Dean the second the common room came into view. He was sitting in the chair closest to her stairway. She took him in nervously at first, breathing a sigh of relief when she had made sure that he wasn't in the same clothes he had been in the night before, taking away any fear that he had stayed up all night to speak with her. At the sound of her entering the common room, he looked up and caught her eye tentatively, and he moved to stand.

"Ginny!" called a voice from her right, making her jump in surprise. Dean's eyes tightened and he stopped in mid motion as he looked over at the interruption. As Ginny looked to see who had called, from the corner of her eye she saw Dean raise himself to his full height.

Harry was walking over to her from the boy's stairs, a brilliant smile on his face.

"Good morning."

"Hi," Ginny said, feeling slightly uncomfortable for reasons that she couldn't quite put her finger on.

Harry patted down his hair and straightened his glasses, "Do you, er, want to go get breakfast and then go up and see Ron with me?"

She gulped and tried to remove any hint of hesitation from her face, feeling Dean's eyes on her, "I...can't," she finally said, "I have some, er, stuff to take care of. Could you tell Ron that I'll be up later today? If he's awake, that is."

"Yeah, sure," Harry said, following Ginny's eyes to Dean. He shuffled his feet awkwardly, "I'll see you later then."

"Okay," Ginny said. Harry gave her a last fleeting smile and walked away.

Taking a deep breath, Ginny returned her attention to Dean. Dean was not turned to her. He was watching Harry go. As soon as Harry exited the portrait hole, he turned back to Ginny.

"Er, Hey," Dean said quietly, the steel that had been in his voice the night before was missing and replaced with a melancholy tone.

"Dean, I--"

"Oh! Guys!" Harry's voice broke through as he came running back to the couple. Dean rolled his eyes and let out a low groan. "Just wanted to let you know practice is going to start an hour earlier tonight because McLaggen is going to fill in for Ron the Hufflepuff match and we need to get used to him."

"Really?" Ginny asked, her voice thick with disgust.

Harry laughed and rolled his eyes, " I know Gin, but--"

"Fine. We'll be there." Dean glared curtly at Harry. It was clear in his voice that the conversation was explicitly over.

Harry stopped short and looked at Dean oddly, "Well, alright then...I'll," he glanced at Ginny, "I'll see you later then."

"Er...bye," Ginny said with a hint of regret before turning her calculating eyes back to Dean. Once again, Dean watched Harry go. "What was that about?"

Dean tore his eyes from the portrait hole, "What was what about?"

"You just totally brushed off our Quidditch Captain..."

"No I didn't," Dean said, "But...but he's not important," his teeth gritted and he paused, before taking a deep breath, "Ginny, I'm...," he glanced shiftily to the portrait hole once more, "I'm sorry about last night."

Ginny bit her lip, "I shouldn't have--"

"No, you were completely right," Dean replied, turning to her and finally giving her his full attention, "I've been a total berk lately and I...I'm gonna work on it."

"Oh," Ginny said, her eyes wide in surprise at his clear apology.

"Give me a chance, and I'm going to work on it," Dean said, reaching out to touch her arm, but pulling away in hesitation.

"Listen, I shouldn't have exploded at you last night," Ginny started, staring at her wringing hands, "I should have remembered to tell you where I was. I just--"

"It's okay."

"I just..." she looked up at him and could feel the truth knocking on the back of her teeth, "Dean, you've been right unbearable lately. Ever since...Christmas. And you can not treat me like that."

Dean hesitated before muttering, "I know, I'm sorry."

"Some girls might sit around and take being ignored and brushed off, but I definitely will not," her voice sounded undeniably strong.

"Gin, I never meant to...I just....I don't know, I've got a lot on my mind about us and I--"

"Things used to be really good but now it's just all messed up. And there's no reason for it, neither of us did anything wrong."

There was silence for a moment as Dean seemed to contemplate something. He took a deep breath and looked back up at Ginny from his feet. "I don't want to mess this up," he said, honesty making his voice sound normal for once.

"Then don't," she replied honestly, "because I don't want you to, either."

"It's just. Ginny," he said, looking at her more deeply than he had in weeks, "I don't know how to act around you anymore. Ever since...Christmas, I..."

"Dean, I just want the old Dean back. It's as easy as that," she said, shrugging, "Believe it or not, I kinda liked that guy."

Dean smiled and reached out again, this time he made contact, "I'll send him a note and see if he'll come back."

"Good," Ginny said.

"Can I...umm..." he bit his lip in nervous habit, "Can I hug you? Is that allowed?"

Ginny rolled her eyes and felt a smile creep onto her face, "Well, what would the old Dean do?"

Dean smiled fully and without another word he pulled her tightly into his arms. As Ginny returned the hug, she couldn't helpful but feel hopeful that maybe, just maybe, that mess was over. Maybe.

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

"He's a nightmare."

"The worst."

"The worstest worst," Ginny said with a laugh as she and Dean made their way out of the locker room after their last practice before the Hufflepuff match. Changes in the team were not going well, to put it lightly. Cormac McLaggen was proving to be worse than anyone could have imagined. Ginny and Dean found themselves on the same side of the fence, and it was definitely the opposite side from McLaggen, which made for endless amounts of conversation, venting, and joking at his expense.

"I really wish you hadn't held Peakes back when he was about to send a bludger at his head," she said, smacking him playfully in the arm.

"Hey, you want to win tomorrow, don't you?" he quipped back, grabbing her arm and pulling her into him.

"You know," she mused, tapping her finger to her lips in a contemplative gesture, "He's so bad, I think it would be almost worth losing the game to take him down. Don't you--"

"Ginny! Hold on!" Harry called from behind.

Ginny and Dean stopped and turned around. Harry was poking his head out of the door of the locker room, "Come back for a second. I want to ask you something. You can go ahead, Dean."

Ginny felt Dean's grip on her stiffen.

"No," Dean yelled back, "I'm not going anywhere."

"Er...okay," Harry replied.

"What do you need to talk to her about, anyway?" Dean asked.

"Dean!" Ginny yelled, jerking her arm from his grip.

"Just asking," he said with a surprised grimace.

Ginny wrinkled her nose in confusion, "Never mind. I'll be right back," she told him, and with that she trotted back to the locker room.

"What's up?" she asked Harry as she reentered the room.

Once Ginny entered the room, Harry sighed and slunk down on the bench, rustling his hair an aggressive way, "Tell me I didn't make a big mistake agreeing to let McLaggen play."

Ginny took a deep breath to let out a laugh. She took a seat beside him and patted his back, "I don't think you made a big mistake," she said, before hesitating and letting out a sigh, "I think you made a _massive_ mistake."

Harry chuckled and looked over to her, rolling his eyes, "I can always depend on you to tell it like it is."

"It's my specialty," Ginny said with a cocky smile, "But, on the bright side," she added, "I do think that if we can get through tomorrow without any of us killing him mid match, we'll be okay. Plus, Ron will be good enough to play in the next match. So all we have to do is get through tomorrow."

Harry smiled, "That's all I needed to hear. Thanks, Gin."

"No problem," Ginny said.

"Will you, uh, take a look at these play charts I made up for tomorrow? I feel like the one on the Rothsland Roll needs a chaser's touch."

"Sure," she replied,scooting up close to have a look at the parchments in his lap, "I think it would be more effective if you have the second chaser feinting upwards. It'll give the chasers on the other team an extra distraction and we all know Hufflepuff isn't too good with multiple distraction," she pointed out, circling a spot on the parchment with her finger as she continued, "and then this spot would open up, allowing the first chaser through with the quaffle."

She looked up from his lap of parchments to see Harry staring at her in awe, "You are a bloody genius, Ginny Weasley."

She laughed and felt a blush creep onto her cheeks, "Just calling it like I see it."

Harry ran his wand over the parchment and the corrections Ginny suggested were made. He shuffled the papers, "How about this one?" He asked, and they both bent down, heads close, to examine the next play.

"Are you seriously considering running this play?" she asked.

Harry shrugged, "I was thinking about it."

"You should save this play for the next game. Ron would be able to handle it a lot better than McLaggen."

"What would I do without you?" he asked with a smile on his face. She bit her lip as she looked up from the paper and met his gaze.

"Are you coming Ginny?" said an icy voice from the doorway, making Ginny quickly jump and pull away from Harry.

"Oh yeah, sorry," she replied, looking toward the door to see Dean standing tall in the doorway. She walked toward him to the exit, "You coming Harry?"

"Nah," Harry responded, "I'm going to work a bit on the play charts. See you guys tomorrow, get some sleep. We'll really need to be rested."

"Goodnight," Ginny said as she followed Dean out. He was already about ten strides ahead of her. "Dean, wait up!"

Dean turned around and stopped, "What did he want to talk to you about?"

"He just needed to be reassured that everything would be fine tomorrow, I think."

Dean snorted, "And he couldn't do that with me around?"

"No? I don't know," she said, trying to find a good way to craft her words, "Harry's my friend. He probably didn't want to look unsure around other team members. It doesn't really do well for morale."

"Right," was all Dean said, and with that the couple returned to the cold night.

It turned out Ginny was right about one thing. The game would've gone well if everyone could have refrained from trying to kill McLaggen. Unfortunately, that was exactly why everything went so terribly wrong. Chaos would have been a kind word for what was happening to the Gryffindor Quidditch team in the air. Ginny had already been a bit on edge when she took to the sky in the first place since she had been so annoyed with Harry for almost missing the beginning of the game because of some lame excuse about following Malfoy. The only enjoyable thing about the match thus far had been the surprise of Luna's voice echoing through the stands as the commentator. She was brilliant, besides the fact that she knew nothing about Quidditch.

But nothing whatsoever could make her feel better about how badly she wanted to hex McLaggen. He had been in the teams faces the entire game, and Harry had been in his face multiple times. Thing were falling apart and they were losing terribly.

"DO NOT TELL ME HOW TO PLAY!" she screamed furiously as McLaggen chastized her for an incerception, making it the third time in ten minutes he had yelled at her. Ginny watched in anger as a Hufflepuff keeper threw the quaffle past his head and into a goal without him even realizing. "You bloody prat! Do you see what just happened?! Ugh!!"

"Just keep playing," Demelza said, pulling up to her quickly, "We'll get him later. You have my promise."

That brought a smile to Ginny's face as she pulled her focus back onto the pitch and the game at hand. She quickly intercepted the quaffle and flew in a winding pattern, averting Hufflepuff's left and right. She feinted a throw to the left to avert the keeper and threw to the right.

"Score Ginny Weasley!" McGonagall's voice echoed.

But there was no time to take the voice in. Shouts of another nature once again echoed from the opposite side of the pitch. She whipped around in the air.

"Harry! NO!"

She gasped in terror as she watched McLaggen swing a rogue beaters bat with his absurdly brawny arm and hit a bludger sideways as Harry pulled up close to get in his face. The next thing she knew, a sickening crunch echoed through the stands and Harry was falling rapidly from the sky. The bludger had hit Harry in the skull at point blank range.

Screams and gasps filled the stands, but Ginny didn't hear a thing as she flew as fast as her broom would take her to the ground where thankfully Peakes had been able to catch Harry before he hit the ground.

Harry was unconscious and the blood from his head was copious. Panic overtook her as she ran to him, but Professor McGonagall cut her off and bumped her out of the way. Quickly McGonagall stemmed the bleeding and conjured a stretcher, running much quicker than expected from a woman her age as Harry on the stretcher floated quickly behind her to the castle.

Fury and a surprising amount of fear rocked her body as she suddenly heard, "The snitch has been caught! I think that means Hufflepuff calls a win---"

McLaggen was still in the air, and now Ginny was too. Except this time her quaffle hand was equipped with her wand instead.

She pulled up directly beside him and before he could even register she was there, she shoved her wand directly _into his nostril_ and screamed the bat bogey hex with every ounce of magical power she had.

"Furnuculus!" yelled a voice from behind her as Demelza got Ginny's back. McLaggen's high pitched screams could do nothing to slow the bat bogeys or the boils that had started to erupt all over his body from Demelza's curse. Somehow he made it to the ground and started to run from the pitch immediately, his screams echoing through the grounds.

"You watch your back McLaggen!" Ginny bellowed, waving her wand erratically, "I will NEVER be done with you, you bloody wanker!!"

"Whoa! Ginny! Cool off! You're going to hurt yourself!" Dean attempted to pull down her arm. She jerked it back and continued to rage. Demelza grabbed her shoulders and Ginny allowed her to steer her lightly to the locker room.

When Ginny looked back later, she was amazed at how easily Demelza had been able to calm her down. Generally, once Ginny got riled up, there was no stopping it. Demelza's level headed and non dramatic nature was somehow able to calm her. The pitch was empty by the time the girls left the locker room, and they made their way up to Gryffindor tower in the castle.

"I hope he's smart enough to stay away from me," Ginny said with a laugh as Demelza gave the password and they walked through the portrait hole into the buzzing common room.

"Oh, I don't know how he would be stupid enough to cross either of us again."

"Good. Because I'd probably break his skull," Ginny said.

"I wouldn't put it past--"

But Ginny cut her off, putting her hand in the air, and both girls faces shot to the fireplace.

"And then 'CRACK'!" Dean cried, and as Seamus mimed swinging a beater's bat through the air, Dean connected with the hand and they both fell to the floor in a fit of laughter.

"That was bloody brilliant!" Dean barked through rolls of laughter to Seamus, "I wanna shake McLaggen's hand!"

The rage that had momentarily subsided refueled within her like a inferno as she stalked over to Dean.

"You HATE McLaggen. You think that was funny? What is your problem?" Dean's eyes shot open wide and connected with Ginny's as she stood tall, towering over him on the floor. A flash of anger met his own eyes and he quickly jumped to his feet.

"You know exactly what my problem is!" Dean yelled back in retort, raising his voice to her for the first time in their relationship. She took a step back in surprise, "Harry's my problem! He deserved to be hit, you know with...with...bossing us around and trying to tell us what to do---"

"He's the captain, Dean. That's his job!"

"You would say that wouldn't you?" he said, the icy tone she had so come to hate reentering his voice.

She stopped dead, "...What?"

Dean threw his hands up in the air, and with a tone of complete defeat, he said, "Come on, just admit it."

She felt like she was missing the punch line of a joke, "...admit what?"

Dean laughed maniacally, confusing her further, "I'm not blind, you know. I see exactly what's going on, I've been seeing it for months and I'm not going to ignore it anymore."

Ginny stuttered, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Dean was silent and he stared at her hard, before finally saying, "I would give anything to have you look at me the way you look at him." And without a second of warning, he stalked off to the dormitory stairs and swept out of view.

"Wha--?"

She looked around to see the common room silent, all eyes on her. She looked to Seamus for help, he merely shrugged hesitantly and took a few steps back. Brain in overdrive and feeling as though she herself had just been hit by a bludger, Ginny slowly turned in a daze and exited the portrait hole without a word.

Dean could not have just accused her of what she thought he accused her of.

But from deep within her, a rogue and often ignored voice broke out, "How could you think he didn't know?" She cursed to herself. She tried to drown it out.

But drowning out that exiled voice echoing deep within her was next to impossible. Not once she allowed it to speak. She turned the corner into another corridor.

Dean knew. Dean knew something that Ginny didn't. Dean knew the reason why Ginny was not in love with him.

And at that moment she found herself at the door of the hospital wing.

She hadn't even realized her feet were leading her there. But the second the door came into view, she couldn't say that she was surprised. The voice deep in her brain was getting louder as she opened the door. At the end of the long thin room were the only two occupied beds. She cursed the cavernous echo that surely must have given her away as she reached the beds. However, no one recognized her approach. She stopped short when their sleeping forms came into view.

Deeply asleep, Harry laid in the bed in front of her. He was ghostly pale, and his head was heavily wrapped in white gauze. Her heart jerked. She took him in fully and collapsed into the chair next to his bed. Little wisps of his uncontrollable hair peeked out from the gauze and splayed over his forehead, shooting diagonally across his lightning scar. She had never realized how long his eyelashes were. There were indents on his nose from where his glasses always sat, and his lips were chapped from all of the winter flying, just like hers. She licked her lips.

There was no denying it. Dean was right. She completely and utterly wanted Harry.

This wasn't the adolescent crush she used to have on the Boy who Lived. She had fully succeeded in killing that.

_This was so much worse._

This was, without a doubt, a pure and undeniable attraction to _Harry_. To his quirky smile and his adorable stutter when he was flummoxed. To the way he would wink at her when they shared an inside joke or how it felt to hug him. To something as simple as his scent. It's not like she hadn't always known it was there. But as long as it had been kept silent, she was able to pretend it didn't exist.

She couldn't pull her eyes from his face. She couldn't pull her mind from sudden deluge of memories of him from the previous summer. Scenes flashed through her mind of flying through the night sky with him at the burrow while everyone slept...of swapping stories about their childhoods on the porch swing...of waking up in the July dawn, finding herself in his arms...how had she ever been able to bury these feelings for so long? And how could she deal with them knowing that once again they would go unrequited. Because though her feelings for Harry had changed and morphed, she couldn't shake the long seeded knowledge that he would never feel the same way for her.

Biting her lip, she cursed Dean and his big mouth as she took her eyes off of his still form and scanned the room for distraction, coming to rest on his glasses on the bedside table. They seemed to have snapped in half during the fall. Picking up the two pieces, she brought her wand to the bridge, "Reparo," she said quietly. She held the newly mended glasses in her hands and twirled them through her fingers. They were so much a part of him. She examined them fully, and then slipped them on her own face.

"Ginny? What are you doing?" The voice made her gasp and she almost dropped his glasses on the floor. Looking up she saw Ron, sitting in his bed and giving her an odd look.

"Ermm..." she said, feeling her cheeks flush traitorously, "I...umm...Harry has horrific eyesight."

"Oh I know. I tried them on in second year. I couldn't even see my hand."

"Yeah, well," she said, replacing the glasses to the table, "I...how are you?"

And with that she started a seemingly normal conversation with Ron, all the while her eyes shifting back to Harry's sleeping form. What was she going to do?

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

O.W.L.S. were fastly approaching as the air grew warmer outside, and Ginny found herself studying more than she ever had in her life. Hermione was proud. Distraction happened to be found within her school books, and she could not have been more relieved for it. The more she crammed into her brain, the less room she had in her brain to think about anything pertaining to boys.

Dean and Ginny did not speak about the row they had had after the Hufflepuff match, and the pink elephant in the room followed them wherever they went. And though they continued to eat together, walks down the halls together, study at the same table and sit in the same group of people, silence was their new best friend. She had truly hoped that something was going to change, but every word they said to each other was becoming increasingly critical and hurtful. It was as though they were two bombs ticking, waiting for the other's timer to go off and blow them both up.

She felt like she was trapped. Things were just not working on so many levels, so much was left unsaid. She dreamed about the days when she enjoyed having a boyfriend, but now thinking of Dean just felt like a weight on her chest. And it didn't help that her mind kept fruitlessly drifting to someone else.

"Are you ready to go back to the common room?" Dean asked from across the table as he started packing his bag with his books, "I'm going to go."

"Umm..." she murmured to stall, honestly, she didn't want to go back with him at all, "I..yeah, lets go."

Ginny packed her bag and started to throw it over her shoulder before Dean caught it and tried to take it from her.

"I can carry it myself, Dean, thanks," she said as she took it back.

"Geez, it just looks so heavy for you. You must have every book you own in there. Let me carry it."

She hoisted it up onto her shoulder and fought the grimace in her face from the weight, "Yes I do have every book in here, but I can handle it. Let's go."

The couple exited the library in silence and made their way to the tower, "What do you want to do tonight?" Dean asked, holding open a tapestry for her, which she reluctantly went through.

"I don't know," she grimaced, "I'm probably going to keep studying."

"That's all you ever do anymore," he whined.

She sighed, "I have my O.W.L.S. at the end of term. I have to."

"Lord knows I didn't study that much," he said.

"Well, I'm trying to get more than six O.W.L.S." she barked back, regretting it immediately.

He looked at her, stunned, "Excuse me?"

She bit her lip, "I'm...oh Merlin, I didn't mean that. I'm sorry." Guilt seeped up into her chest.

"Whatever," he said as they reached the portrait hole, "Incantantem."

And the door swung open. Ginny made to take a step forward when suddenly she felt a hard nudge on her shoulder. Whipping around, she glared at Dean, "_Don't _push me, please, Dean."

"What is your bloody problem!" He suddenly barked, making her jump, "I didn't even touch you!" It seemed as though Dean's bomb had finally gone off.

"You just pushed me!" she yelled back, flaring up instantly as if she had been waiting for this, "I'm sick of you always feeling the need to lead me around like I'm some kind of pet! I'm sick of you trying to carry my bag! I'm sick of all of that! I know how to walk! I don't like it, so just quit!"

She made to walk away, but Dean threw his bag on the ground in the entrance with force and grabbed her arm, "That's what a bloke is supposed to do for a girl Ginny! It's called chivalry!"

"Yeah? Well there's a fine line between being chivalrous and being chauvinistic. I'm every bit as capable of anything that you are!" She shouted, throwing her own bag down, "You think I'm some weak little girl who needs a bloke to take care of her, you always have! Well, you're blind. You've had more than enough opportunity to realize that I'm every bit as capable as you. Remember when I bat bogeyed Zacharius Smith right before your eyes? When I took care of McLaggen? Remember how you just stood there, stunned? Well, I wasn't stunned! I take action! And if I can do that, if I can _catch a quaffle_ faster than you can, I sure as hell can walk through a DOORWAY without your help!"

She stunned herself and looked into his own stunned face. He was rigid, "So that's how you feel?"

"Yeah," she responded, "That's how I feel."

"You are the coldest witch I have ever met," he said with disgust, "and to think I told you I loved you."

"I--" Ginny stuttered, shocked that he finally brought up that night for the first time.

"Just get it over with Ginny, I know you want to," He said with a glare.

And much to her deep regret, she knew he was right. Slowly she nodded. There was nothing else she could do, she couldn't pretend anymore. She forced out the words that were stuck in her throat, "Okay. It's over."

"I hope you're happy." And with that he stalked off, leaving her to stand alone in the crowded common room once more.

Leaving her bag where it was, she ran out from the common room and back out into the corridors. She couldn't help how she felt about him, she had tried so hard to make it work. But still, _'the coldest witch I have ever met_' echoed deeply through her. But she had done everything she could. She had tried to love him, she had tried to enjoy being put on a pedestal, but it just wasn't her. _He _just wasn't her.

And though she felt guilty, she realized with a shock that she felt like she could breathe again. The boulder that had been sitting on her chest was relieved. She felt lighter than she had in weeks.

"I need to fly,"she said to herself, and suddenly she found herself expertly navigating her way out of the castle. She hurried down to the locker room on the pitch and grabbed her broom from her locker. Sitting on the locker room bench, she weighed it in her hands as she let the reality of the moment set in. She had let Dean go. She had let go a person who loved her. Dean was gone. And in all honesty, she didn't regret it.

The wind in her hair added to the feeling of freedom that flooded her body as she climbed into the sky as the sun set gold on the horizon. It suddenly dawned on her that it had been years since she had been on her own. She had gone straight from Michael to Dean without a single moment of break in between. This had to be a nice change? Right? The sun set fast and quickly she found herself underneath a stunningly clear black sky of stars. The moon was crescent. Stopping her broom in a hover position, she leaned back and laid flat against it, taking in the night.

This was going to be a nice change. It was going to be good to be alone.

There was no saying how long she was out on the pitch under the starlight, but no light emitted from the windows of the castle when she decided to go back in for the night. Ginny had been out this late in the past, and she did happen to be the little sister of the best late night sneakers in the history of Hogwarts, but that didn't stop her from feeling nervous when she creaked open the doors to the entrance hall.

The deep black of the castle was nerve racking as she tried to make her way through the hallways, her eyesight adjusting too slowly. Her patience quickly gave out. "Lumos," she muttered, and quickly light filled a corridor she recognized as being about halfway to Gryffindor tower. Like clockwork, at that moment she heard the scampering paws and the lamplit eyes of Mrs. Norris rounded the corner.

"MEOW!" she cried through the echoing hallways.

"Did you find one?" the voice of Filch cooed out, "Oh, let's get it!"

Ginny cursed to herself and spun around in search of a doorway to a classroom or a broom closet. There was nothing. Trapped like a deer in the headlights of the cats eyes, she panicked and started to run back the way she came.

Suddenly she came in contact with something hard in the dark. That something grabbed her, a hand was heavy over her mouth, and she was pulled tightly against the wall against a strong body under a cloak before she could scream. Struggling and panicky, she elbowed the person holding her as she began to sweat in fear.

The person quickly removed his arm from around her waist and grabbed her wand, "Nox." Said a male voice and her wand went out, but she continued to struggle with the body that she was tightly pulling her against itself under the cloak. Filch entered her view and ran right past without seeing anything at all...almost as if they were invisible...she instantly stopped struggling.

"Lesson one on late night corridor etiquette: Never light your wand," the voice behind her whispered into her ear, his breath tickling from its closeness as he removed his hand from her mouth, "Amateur."

Her heart leapt into her throat. Every part of her could suddenly feel hot shocks from where his body was pressed up behind her. Being single wasn't going to be as easy as she thought.

"Thanks Harry," she breathed as she leaned back into him, Filch still searching the hallway.

This was torture.

But if this is what hell felt like, she would let herself burn.

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This is, without question, the hardest chapter I have had to write for this story. So much going on! You were heard loud and clear, reviewers, I have given you your break up. Now the real fun can begin! I hate to admit it, but the more you talk, the faster I write. Thanks all!


	39. Collide

Filch was a mere ten feet away, scavenging the pitch black corridor in vain, but Ginny hardly had the mind to notice him. Every ounce of her attention was focused beneath the cloak.

She felt Harry's breath rustle her hair as his chest rose and fell against her back. Her ear tingled sharply from the sensation of the air subtly rushing from his mouth. Her own breath slowed to meet the rise and fall of his chest. The small of her waist, where Harry's arm was still wrapped tightly from pulling her in, tingled immensely and made her heart jump into her throat. Every breath, every twitch, and every move that her body made was terribly in tune to every breath, every twitch, and every move that Harry made. Was it even possible to be so acutely aware of each minute sensation?

Harry's finger twitched against her stomach.

She could melt. Wrapped within Harry for the first time, heart leaping from her chest, his breath so close... Rogue thoughts of how it would feel to kiss him shot through her mind, causing her to sweat within his hold. It would be so easy, his lips were so close...

"I think we're safe," he breathed, making her jump and come back to reality. Filch's footsteps echoed away along with fading disgruntled mumbles.

"Erm...okay," she managed to say. Neither of them moved.

"So here's the issue," he whispered closely, "Snape, he's, er...at the entrance of the portrait hole. So I don't think we can go back just yet."

Ginny's mouth was dry, it was hard to respond, "How do you know that?"

"Well...I have a map and I was looking at it when I spotted you."

"The Marauder's Map?" she asked, surprised enough to bring her thoughts back to her, "I didn't know Fred and George passed it down."

"Oh! Oh yeah, I got it years ago. You know about it?"

She scoffed and turned her face slightly to him. She could now feel his breath on her nose, "Know about it? I'm the one who figured out how to make it work between their first and second year. The gits couldn't get it to open. I used dad's wand."

"Well aren't you sly?" he said with an odd lilt, "I should thank you then. That map has saved my arse countless time."

She let out a tiny laugh, "Happy to help."

There was silence for a moment, "So, where do you want to go while we wait out Snape?" he asked.

"Um...we're invisible...can't we just go around him?" she asked.

"Yeah..." he said while he fidgeted. In her mind she could see him rubbing the back of his neck, "but I don't want to risk it...See, you know, two sets of feet can be pretty loud...I think we should wait it out."

Ginny weighed her options. An unforeseen amount of time with Harry, under an invisibility cloak, in the middle of the night, or--

"Okay," she responded, nodding her head in obvious agreement, "Where do you think we should go?"

She felt Harry shrug against her, "You hungry?"

She wasn't hungry in the slightest, "Sure."

"The kitchens it is, then," he said.

"Great," she responded. No one moved.

"Erm...Gin?"

"Yeah?"

Harry cleared his throat lightly, "You're going to have to move first. You, uh...you kind of have me pinned against the wall."

"Um..." she said, feeling her face flush so bright that it might illuminate the darkness, "Well, that's going to be a bit difficult...you're still holding me here."

"Oh!" Harry exclaimed in surprise, extracting his arm quickly from her waist. She laughed nervously as she took a step forward and removed herself from him.

"I heard that! You can try to hide from me but we WILL FIND YOU!"

Harry shot his seeker fast hands forward and grabbed Ginny's waist instinctively, pulling her snugly back to him and the wall as Filch rushed down from the end of the hallway, so close past them that the cloak fluttered. Ginny shoved her fist into her mouth to stop herself from laughing. Harry muffled his laughter into her hair. Filch hurried down to the other end and turned the corner into the next corridor, waving his arms the entire time.

"Okay, NOW you can get off of me," Harry whispered with a snicker as he let go of her waist.

Ginny was pretty sure that even her toes were blushing.

"Erm...right or left?" she asked, moving forward.

"Right," Harry answered.

The two set off quietly down the hallway. The invisibility cloak posed an odd walking situation in the darkness. Harry was obviously used to walking under it with someone else. But Ginny, who was not used to walking under it, or used to walking so close to someone, and who was still regaining her composure from the little incident against the wall, was not having such an easy time of it.

"Since when did you become so clumsy?" he asked, grabbing her arm as she tripped down a step.

"This just takes a little getting used to," she replied, "I'm the independent type, you know. I'm not used to being hindered by someone else's walking pattern."

Harry snickered, "Sorry to hinder you, Gin," he said in a mocking snicker. "It's this way."

Harry guided her arm gently to the left, and she followed down one more set of stairs.

"So, what were you doing out so late, night owl?" he asked.

"Erm..." she murmured. Something was sticking her tongue from saying the reason, "I was having a fly."

"Well, judging by how I had to save you from Filch, I'd venture to guess that isn't an every day occurrence for you."

She scowled in his direction, "You are a right git. You know that?" Harry responded with a whispered laugh, "...and no, it's not normal. I just...had a lot on my mind. You know, OWLS and such." It was odd, for some reason the words '_I split with Dean_' wouldn't form in her mouth.

A light "Oh," was all Harry said, "So, did you have a good fly?"

"Oh, definitely," she responded, "The stars were amazing. The sky is much clearer up here than it is at the Burrow."

"Really?" he asked, "You think so?"

She shrugged, "It doesn't seem that way in Astronomy, maybe. But when you're just in the sky enjoying the starlight? Definitely," Harry nudged lightly on her arm again and they turned right down another corridor. "So, how about you? What were you doing out so late?"

"Oh," Harry said as the two pulled up beside the portrait of a bowl of fruit. He reached out from under the cloak and tickled the pear in the bowl. The faint giggling sound echoed through the corridor as a handle appeared and he opened up the painting to reveal a rugged stone entry way. The two entered as Harry pulled the portrait closed behind them. He quickly pulled off the cloak. The bright gleam of the kitchens made her eyes water after so many hours of darkness. Squinting heavily, she followed Harry inside.

"I had a meeting with Dumbledore," he finally responded.

"So late?" she asked.

"Yeah, it was kind of urgent," He said, glancing back at her before glancing away into the kitchens.

"Is everything alright?" she asked.

Harry nodded, looking at the ground, "Er, yeah. Everything's fine. Just a--"

"Mr. Harry Potter Sir!" screeched a voice, causing Ginny to jump in surprise as Harry jerked up to look behind him.

"Hi Dobby. What are you doing up so late?" Harry asked, haphazardly wrapping up the invisibility cloak and stashing it in his robes.

"Dobby is looking after Winky, sir. She is less than well," he said, his green orb like eyes staring Harry down with an odd sense of awe. "Was Dobby helpful with the Malfoy boy?"

Ginny's head whipped around in surprise, "Malfoy?"

Harry suddenly winced and slowly looked over at Ginny with a guilty look on his face, "I--"

But he didn't get a chance to explain. For suddenly a terrified shriek echoed through the cavernous room. Dobby was staring at Ginny with wide and anguished eyes. He suddenly bolted to the counter that was filled with kitchen ware and grabbed a pot, holding it high over his head in a rage.

"Dobby, NO!" Harry yelped, leaping toward the elf, catching the pot in mid swing as Dobby attempted to hit himself over the head with an amazing amount of force.

"But Harry Potter forbade Dobby from telling anyone but Miss Hermione and Mr. Ron! And she is NOT MISS HERMIONE! AEEEEGGGG!!" Dobby screeched, trying with all of this might to pull the pot back from Harry.

After a scuffle, Harry finally succeeded in wrestling the pot out of Dobby's hand once and for all, "It's alright," he said breathlessly, standing up from the floor, "Ginny can know."

Dobby continued to stare at Harry in anguish.

"Really. I...I forgot to tell you that it was okay to talk about it in front of Ginny."

Dobby was trembling, "Is Harry Potter sure?"

"Of course."

Dobby stared at Harry for a long moment, breathing deeply before nodding.

"It's okay, Dobby, really," Harry said in a reassuring voice.

Dobby took one last deep breath, "Thank you, Harry Potter. Harry Potter is too kind," Dobby attempted a watery eyed smile, "Dobby will bring pumpkin juice? And treacle tart? They are Harry Potter's favorite."

"Sure, thanks Dobby," Harry replied, setting the pot down on the counter beside him. Dobby bowed deeply and scampered away. After a moment, Harry turned around face Ginny, a mingled expression of relief and embarrassment on his face, "Er...that's Dobby."

Ginny couldn't help but laugh as she stepped closer to Harry in order to keep her voice down, "I have no idea what just happened."

"Dobby takes the things I say very seriously. Even though he's free now. One time in second year he showed up in my room at the Dursley's and starting hitting himself over the head with my lamp. That was my first impression of him."

"Intense," she said, pulling herself up to sit on the counter, feet dangling. Harry followed her lead and pulled himself up to sit beside her.

"Dobby brings pumpkin juice and treacle tart for Mr. Harry and his lady friend," Dobby squeaked as he came back into view, slipping a tray beside Harry on the counter before bowing deeply.

"Er, thanks Dobby," Harry replied, and Dobby promptly hurried away.

"Lady friend?" she mouthed animatedly at Harry, fighting back an embarrassed laugh.

Harry shrugged, turning slightly pink, "Well, you are a lady? And you are my friend. So, I guess it fits?" Harry said, turning away from her to reach for the tray. "Treacle tart?" he asked, holding one out to her.

"Thanks," she replied, taking it from his grasp, "Are they really your favorite?"

Harry nodded as he took a bite, "Yeah, but honestly I have no idea how he knows that."

Ginny laughed, "Funny, I would have thought your favorite would have been something more like Chocolate Souffle," she said with a cocky air before taking the pumpkin juice that Harry handed her and taking a drink.

"Nah," he responded, "Only when Phlegm makes it."

Ginny snorted into her pumpkin juice.

"I'm going to ignore that you just snorted," he said with a laugh.

She eyed him shrewdly and kicked his dangling foot with her own, "So tell me about Malfoy."

Harry kicked back, sighed and rolled his eyes, "I was hoping you'd forgotten."

"You honestly think I'd forget something that caused you have to save a house elf from his own self destruction?"

"Wishful thinking?" he asked with a shrug, taking another bite.

"Very wishful, Potter," she said with a wink.

Harry sighed, "Gin, you're going to think I'm crazy. I'm not, but you're definitely going to think it."

"Try me," she said, taking another sip.

Harry took another drink as well, finally he leaned in and said in a hushed voice,"Well, basically, I think Malfoy's a death eater. And---Gin? Ginny?"

Ginny had subsequently inhaled her pumpkin juice directly down the wrong tube and fell into a heavy cough. Harry hit her on the back with a dejected look on his face.

"That's the usual reaction."

"I'm sorry," she said through coughs, "did you just say you thought Malfoy was a death eater?"

"Well, yes," he said, with a more serious tone which caught her attention, "Ron and Hermione won't believe a word of it but--"

Harry went into a distinct description of his reason for believing such a thing. He told her about how he had followed him into Knockturn Alley and how he had overheard Malfoy telling other Slytherins on the Hogwarts Express about 'things more important than school'. From there, he explained his belief that Malfoy had sent the cursed necklace that had cursed Katie Bell and how he felt that Malfoy might have had something to do with the mead that had poisoned Ron. He went deeper, telling her how Malfoy had been disappearing from the Marauder's map, and with Dobby's help he had located that he had been going to the Room of Requirement for prolonged periods of time and how he had tried everything to get inside. Hearing the whole story in one sitting, she had to admit that Harry did indeed have a case against Malfoy. He had thought it through so deeply, and in all honesty, the pieces did seem to fit, maybe.

"He's left no rock unturned to keep himself hidden, either. He's been disguising Crabbe and Goyle to stand watch for him while he works in the Room of Requirement."

Ginny gave him an odd look, "How on earth would someone be able to disguising those oafs?"

"Polyjuice," Harry said, before cracking into a smile, "he's been turning them into little first year girls."

The mental picture of something so absurd made her crack up with glee. Harry gave her a tentative look and took one last drink before setting his mug down.

"So, do you think I'm crazy?"

She implored him with a smirk growing on her face, "Well, I do happen to think you're a bit crazy. But not for tailing Malfoy. Just in general." Harry responded with a faux sneer, she laughed in response before coming back to the topic at hand, "No, really. When you state your case and all of your evidence, it definitely sounds like he's up to something. I don't know if it means he's a death eater, per say. Maybe he is. But either way, it sounds shifty and I think it's good that someone's onto him."

"Thanks, Gin," he replied with surprise, "You're the first person who hasn't told me I'm daft."

"Not in the slightest, Harry. A little obsessed, maybe, but you do seem to be onto something."

Harry smiled and shook his head, "Ron and Hermione are so sick of hearing about this. I've had to keep it to myself for awhile. Good to know I don't sound crazy to somebody. To you."

She took him in seriously for a second, and a question popped into her head, "Why do you care, though?"

"What?"

"Why is it so important to you? I mean, it's not your job."

Harry stared at her for a second and took a moment to answer, "But it is my job."

"You are not personally responsible for the safety of everyone in the world, you know," she said kindly.

Harry bit his lip and looked down at his hands for a moment, "Gin, it's hard to explain. But, if I know something and no one else is going to do anything about it, why on Earth would I stand back and let the people I care about be in danger? Forget Quidditch, forget OWLS, forget all of that. Nothing in this school would matter, nothing at all would matter, if the people I cared about weren't here. And if I have to become obsessed over a slimy git of a Slytherin because I think he's putting the people I care about in danger, I'll do it. That's just...who I am, I guess."

The honesty of Harry's words struck Ginny in a way that she couldn't quite explain. If asked, she probably could have guessed such a thing about him. But something about his voice and the reality of his words tugged her heart viciously. Because she realized once again, if it hadn't been for that quality within him, she would have died at the hands of a memory years before. Every urge in her wanted to tell him what that meant to her, but the shadow of that shy eleven year old he had saved suddenly crept up within her, and for the first time in years her tongue stuck in Harry's presence.

She looked up to him finally, "You are the most true Gryffindor I've ever met."

He smiled shyly back, "Thanks."

She smiled kindly back, taking him in. Harry's eyes had never seemed so green. It was then that she realized how close they had gotten. Heart jumping, she felt herself flush one more time as her eyes darted back down to her lap.

"We should, er, probably get back up to the tower. It's getting really late," he said, quickly fidgeting out the Marauder's Map and his wand as he jumped down from the counter, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good." Harry took a moment to investigate the map, "looks safe," he said, looking up at Ginny with a quick smile, before saying, "Mischief Managed," and tucking away the map and his wand. Ginny hopped down from the counter and followed Harry toward the door. "Oh," Harry said, turning around and pulling out his wand. He quickly enchanted the tray and it retreated into the kitchen, "Thanks Dobby!" he cried to the kitchen, "Ready?" he asked, turning his attention back to Ginny as he pulled out the cloak.

"Yeah," she replied, and Harry tossed the cloak around her and stepped underneath. The two walked out into the darkness of the corridor and made their way up the Gryffindor tower in relative silence, whispering directions to each other as they went. They made it to the tower without issue, except that the Fat Lady was sound asleep.

"Snarglapuff," Harry said, popping his head out from under the cloak as they approached the portrait. The Fat Lady responded with a snore. "Snarglapuff!" No response. Ginny popped her head out directly beside Harry's.

"On three?" she said. Harry nodded. Ginny cleared her throat, "One. Two. Three."

"SNARGLAPUFF," they bellowed. The Fat Lady jumped and hit her head on the frame.

"Well, that was uncalled for!" she screeched, rubbing a spot on her head and swinging open.

Harry pulled the cloak back over Ginny's head and then popped his own head back under. They entered the common room, glowing dimly in the last embers of the fire. The portrait slammed loudly behind them.

"I reckon she's a bit upset we woke her up," Harry said as they made their way to the stairways to the dorms.

"I don't blame her, really. I wouldn't want to be woken up by two disrespectful teenagers," she replied.

"Good point," he said. The two had made it to the staircase. They were still huddled tightly beneath the invisibility cloak. After a second he turned to face her, "I mean, we aren't supposed to be out that late, are we?"

"Signs point to no," she said in reply. The dark glow of the fire reflected from his eyes as he stood closely before her.

"Thanks for, er, listening to me. No one else has actually let me explain all of that," Harry said.

"Anytime," Ginny responded, "Thanks for saving me from Filch."

"Anytime."

Ginny shot a full smile back up at him. Neither spoke in response. It was starting to get very warm under the tightly constricting invisibility cloak. She never wanted to leave it.

Ginny held her breath.

Harry licked his lips.

Neither of them moved.

"Good night, Gin," He said quietly.

"Good night, Harry," She whispered back.

They stood staring at each other for another second.

Then Harry blinked and reached up, removing the cloak from them. A shot of cool air rushed over her.

"Alright then," he said, draping the cloak over his arm, "Good night."

Harry slowly turned around and disappeared up the stairs on her left.

Ginny blew out the breath she had been holding. And gulped. Then took another deep breath as she heard his door shut behind him. She then blinked herself back to reality and made her way up the stairs on her right.

Of the million scenarios that she could have imagined on her trip back to Gryffindor Tower from the Quidditch pitch, being suddenly pulled tight against Harry into a dark corridor under an invisibility cloak had definitely not crossed her mind. She needed a better imagination.

However, her imagination was turning somersaults as she finally crawled into bed a few minutes later. Maybe it had just needed a jump start, because there was no way it was going to allow her to sleep. Visions of Harry so close to her were making sure of that. Though, she couldn't complain, because the visions flying through her mind were better than any dream.

Ginny groaned as she saw the sun peek through the curtains around her bed. How in Merlin's name had she been able to block out such an emotion for so long?

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Hope you enjoyed :)


	40. Futile Resistance

**Thank you for your patience as you allowed me to work feverishly on this chapter. I've been an obscene amount of hours every day to get this right, I hope it is acceptable :) And now I give you Chapter 40 of Fantastical Truths: Futile Resistance**

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She smiled dumbly and smashed her face into her pillow. Nothing made sense. Nothing at all. Not one little bit. It was all just a haze. Of Harry.

It had taken him years to fully reclaim his effect on her. But her resolve, which had held strong against him for so long, officially crumbled to dust the second he pulled her tightly to him beneath his cloak.

And though she knew she would regret it later, in the depths of the night she gave herself over to him inside of her mind. To hold onto the lingering feeling of how his arm had clutched her waist. His breath in her hair. The way his eyes had looked in the firelight...so dangerously close, all she would have needed to do was lift on her tip toes...

It was delicious release.

But the sun was rising in rays through her bed curtains. And with it came the dawn of reality, breaking through the haze of her daydreams. Awaking her nerve by nerve to the reality that she had not, in fact, kissed Harry. Rather, she had just broken up with Dean, had not gotten a wink of sleep, and had a pre-OWLS test in potions later that she would most likely get a T on after such a night. A reality where the air outside of her bed was cold and Harry's arm was not actually holding her in place, warming her to the core. A reality where the Wizarding World was in grave danger and there were much more important things to think about than the many great possibilities of a late night trip under an invisibility cloak....

Ginny had always been good at returning to such a reality. Especially when it came to Harry. True, he had always been able to creep into her mind at the most inopportune times. After all, he was her biggest Whackspurt. She had always been able to siphon him out, though. This time, something was different.

This time she didn't want him to leave.

The day dragged dangerously, bringing with it the fatigue of a sleepless night, and her fuzzy mind result in a few mishaps. A disastrous moment in potions which caused her to walk through the day with singed robes, a faulty heating charm that caught the tip of Luna's hair on fire, and, to top it all off, a full on run in with Dean in the hallway.

She couldn't say she was surprised when he did not even look at her and stalked away. But a sizable knot tugged in her stomach as he stoically passed, briefly dislodging Harry from her mind. She felt terrible for hurting Dean. How had he known? Had it really been that obvious? And though she felt guilty even thinking of it, was Quidditch was going to be torturous?

Walking into the Great Hall for dinner, she avoided the spot she had sat all year. Dean, Seamus, Lavender, and Parvati were sitting there, all four of them looking mutinous. Instead, she took a deep breath and her nerves jangled slightly as she scanned the room for someone else.

Harry was sitting across from Ron and Hermione, who seemed to be deep in conversation with each other. Harry, however, was looking directly back at her.

Her stomach swooped suddenly and her toes tingled. She couldn't help but scold herself. It was extremely silly. After all, he was just Harry, right? _'Of course he's just Harry."_

Her feet were already moving in his direction.

"Do you want to sit with us, Gin?" Hermione asked, looking up from her conversation.

"Oh! Sure, Thanks," she said quickly, dropping her bag. Harry scooted over to allow room next to him. She slipped onto the bench, brushing his thigh with hers in the process.

"Really, Ron," Hermione sighed as Ginny began to fill her plate, "You are completely overreacting, I don't think she's going to try to hurt either of us. It's not as though she's a bad person."

"Are you mental? Just look at her face! She looks like she could kill me!" Ron hissed back.

"Care to tell me what's going on?" Ginny muttered into Harry's ear as they watched Ron and Hermione banter.

Harry laughed, "Ron is fearing for his life."

"What brought that on?" she whispered back.

"You haven't heard?" Hermione interjected tiredly from across the table as though she had told the story fifty times, "Lavender caught Ron and I coming down from his room alone last night and she dumped Ron on the spot," Ginny gasped and she opened her mouth to speak, but Hermione waved her off, "No no, It was quite silly, really. Harry was with us, but he was under the cloak...so obviously it didn't look very good," she turned back to Ron, "But she didn't curse me once in my sleep last night, Ron, so I think we're okay," Hermione bit her lip to keep down her smile as she flashed a look back at Ginny.

"I don't know Hermione," Ginny teased as she poured herself some pumpkin juice, "Lavender does seem like the jilted type. Are you sure you shouldn't put a few wards around your bed?" Ron nodded in agreement, "I mean, she does think you stole her Won-Won."

Laughter erupted at the table as Ron's face turned sour, "I'm glad to see you find this so funny."

Ginny smirked back at him, then turned to Harry, "What do you think?"

Harry looked at Hermione and nodded, "Ward you bed."

She leaned in and whispered to Hermione, "Ward your bed."

Hermione rolled her eyes at them and went back to reading her Evening Prophet.

"So I've told the other two, but I haven't seen you today," Harry cut back in as his laughter quelled, "Eat up quickly, because we're going to go down early to get some extra chaser practice in."

The knot that she had momentarily disappeared returned with a vengeance as she spotted Dean once more at the end of the table, "Why do we need extra practice? The three of us have been flying fine lately." She said defensively.

"Erm..." Harry stuttered awkwardly, "You haven't heard? Katie's back."

Ginny dropped her fork in surprise, "Bell?!"

Harry nodded.

"Oh Merlin, that's fantastic!" Ginny exclaimed loudly.

Hermione looked up from her Prophet and gave her a knowing smile, "I thought you'd be happy to hear that."

"Yeah...you have no idea," Ginny replied with a relieved sigh. Hermione nodded in understanding. Ginny turned back to Harry and picked her fork back up, suddenly flushing pink from her outburst, "Sorry, that sounds great. I'm all for more practice."

"Good!" Harry said, finishing off his Shepard's Pie, "Finish up and then you and I can go down."

She felt ten pounds lighter with the knowledge that she wouldn't have to endure Dean. She scarfed down her dinner like it was her job. Taking one last drink of her pumpkin juice a few minutes later, she looked up at Harry, "Are you ready?"

"I was just waiting for you," he said quietly.

"Oh," she responded, "Okay then. Let's go."

Harry grinned and they both moved to get up.

"Wait you two, you're not getting out of here without me," Ron grumbled through the chicken leg in his mouth, "Just give me one second."

Harry stopped mid way out of his seat, "Erm...well--"

"Ron, you don't have to go down there for another forty five minutes," Hermione said suddenly, "No need to rush."

"No no no," Ron said, wiping his mouth and standing, "I think I should be there for a chaser practice."

"Feeling important, are we?" Ginny said sarcastically.

Ron animatedly rolled his eyes at Ginny and addressed Harry, "I should be there, right? I mean, the girls need someone to play off of."

Harry was silent for a moment, "Yeah, I guess," he finally said, "Come on."

As Ginny reached down to grab her Quidditch bag, Hermione caught her eye. Ginny froze.

Pulling a casually blank look onto her face, she waved good-bye to Hermione and followed the boys out of the Great Hall.

Was Hermione learning Legilimency? Or were Ginny's thoughts written all over her face? Because it was clear on Hermione's face that she knew exactly what Ginny was feeling. And Ginny didn't like it. She hadn't mentioned him to Hermione in months. And the truth was, she didn't intend to. Allowing herself to secretly relish in the forbidden fantasy of him was one thing. But having someone else knowing what was going on inside of her was another thing entirely. Because her feelings already felt like an outdated potion, left on the shelf too long and too potent for her veins to handle. She could only imagine the toxicity that would envelop her if they were escape her mouth and hit someone else's ears. It was best to keep it contained, and she would simply wait for his effect on her to wear off and fade.

But as the days progressed the most curiously odd thing happened that Ginny had not expected, thwarting her plan for him to fade.

At first, she almost felt like she might have been making it up.

Harry suddenly seemed to be everywhere she turned.

He could be found at every meal she ate, and of course he was at every practice and every walk to and from practice, right by her side. But he also popped up on every couch she sat on in the common room and at every table she occupied in the library. Laughing with her, talking Quidditch, helping her with her OWLS, and just being so constant, and so...Harry.

He wasn't wearing off. To her horror, he was becoming more and more unbelievably addictive.

She couldn't help but notice him with increasing sensitivity. The way he mounted his broom ever so slightly off center, and which fingernail he chewed when he was thinking of an answer to a question. How he would rub his forehead in the cutest way when he was worried, or how he always pulled his arms back to crack his shoulder blades in a glorious stretch at the end of a long fly. She found herself relishing in the exact shade of emerald his eyes became when he was passionate about something he was saying. And how his laugh rang so perfectly to her ear when he thought something she said was funny...

Ginny returned from the library one evening, having missed dinner, and threw herself down onto one of the few unoccupied sofas. Her eyes felt like they were about to bleed from all of the charms she had just crammed. Pushing the palms of her hands into her eyes, she laid back.

"I don't know what happened." A voice floated in as the portrait hole squeaked shut, "He just came in completely covered in blood and said he needed my potions book."

"I'm just so worried," interjected another voice, "I just can't imagine that it's as bad as the rumors make it sound."

"Mione, he was covered in blood."

"I know! But Harry wouldn't do that!"

Ginny's heart jumped, and she shot up and looked over the couch to see Ron and Hermione passing behind her couch, "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, Gin," Hermione said with relief, "I didn't see you at dinner and I got worried. Have you seen Harry?"

Ginny shook her head, "What happened?"

"Ron, are you sure that's all you saw?" Hermione implored seriously.

"Yes, I'd tell you if--" but Ron didn't get a chance to finish his sentence, because Harry entered directly behind them.

Dried blood could still seen be on his robes and his face was sickly white. Her stomach lurched and her heart began to pound. She launched off of the couch toward him, "Are you alright?"

Harry's head jerked up at he sound of her voice.

"Harry, what happened to you?"

"Yeah mate..."

Hermione walked forward and guided him to the empty couch and the four sat down, Hermione and Ginny on either side of Harry. They sat silently, imploring him to speak.

After a moment, he turned to Ginny, but kept his eyes on his hands, "Gin, you have to play seeker in the match on Saturday."

Ginny stared at him blankly, "What?"

"Snape gave me detention for every Saturday until the end of term," he said quietly, his voice undoubtedly miserable.

"What happened?" she asked quietly.

Harry then told them of how he had hexed Malfoy. Ginny winced as he went through the details of how Malfoy had bled everywhere, though she couldn't help but feel that he had acted in self defense when Harry mentioned that Malfoy had attempted a Crucio. It was then that Harry admitted he had used a spell he'd found written in the margins of the potions book he'd been using. Ginny had heard more than enough about the potions book over the year from Hermione and it had always served to amuse her, but she couldn't help but feel that Harry had been a complete moron. She opened her mouth to say so but Hermione beat her to it. Hard.

Hermione's unending rant was too much. And regardless of the fact that she agreed with some of it, she could see how much it wasn't helping Harry. And that was completely uncalled for.

Ginny cut back at Hermione, resulting in an outburst that left the girls not speaking for the rest of the night. She surprised even herself. She had never lashed out at Hermione before...

With only one practice remaining to get the team ready for the ready to play Ravenclaw, the mood was frantic. Team members were less than happy, and it was showing on the pitch (though Ginny could tell that Dean loved the sudden change of events). The team had been flying better than ever from the moment Katie had returned to the ranks, but with the last minute changes in place, the sky was a mess.

Katie and Dean did not sync up well as chasers, and they kept missing each others throws left and right. Ron's nerves were on the fritz, and Ginny was having a terrible time readjusting to her change in position. The intended goal making of being a Chaser fit her flying style so much better than the meandering, feinting, and patience required from a Seeker. She held sentinel over the the practice, going through a set of exercises Harry had set up for her as her teammates struggled below.

"How's it going up here?" he asked suddenly, pulling up to her was she was stopped for a break.

She sighed and batted her fringe from her face, "I'm rubbish at Seeker."

"...I'm really sorry you have to do this."

"No," she said quickly, backtracking, "It's not that. It's just that I haven't thought about a single one of these maneuvers in a year. I'm just rusty."

"Do you want to stay after?" he asked, "We can go through anything you want."

Ginny sighed in relief, "That would be fantastic."

"Great," Harry said with a smile, "Dean!," he yelled down suddenly, "You have to throw TO Katie, not AROUND her!" He looked back at Ginny, "I better get back down there."

"Good luck," she said with a laugh.

"Looks like I'll need it," he said to himself before he pulled away to the ground.

Practice got marginally better as the evening progressed. Peakes and Cootes were in good form at least, for they had managed to hit Harry with at least three bludgers over the course of the evening.

Ginny stayed in the air as she watched the rest of the team head toward the ground and dismount. Harry suddenly zipped past her without warning.

"First lesson!" he yelled over his shoulder, "Try to figure out when I mean it and when I'm feinting!"

Harry shot down in a direct angle to the ground and Ginny followed skillfully. Closer and closer they came to the ground, but oddly she noticed she was gaining on him.

She immediately stopped, "Nice try, Potter! But that's your signature! I'd know that feint anywhere."

Harry jerked out of his fly and smirked back at her. He pulled out a snitch and let it go freely into the air, "Let's try again then."

The voices of their teammates faded from the pitch as the practice snitch flew away, "When you used to fly Seeker you would get a little too into the main action," he said, pulling up close to her in the full moonlight, "I guess it's just a preference thing, but give it a try to stay higher. I mean, it's also good to be above when you're viewing things as the captain."

Ginny took her eye off the sky for a moment to look at him curiously, "Captain?"

"I kind of already told them you'd be filling in..." he said sheepishly.

"Of course," she said without hesitation.

"Thanks," he replied, "You've been so great about all of this and—"

But he didn't finish his sentence. Instead, he shot directly past her. She followed as quickly as she could. Harry alluded her and dove into an extremely complicated maneuver. It almost made her dizzy just watching him. When he pulled out of it, he was holding the snitch in his hand.

"Lesson number two," he said with a cocky smile as he flew up close to her, "Don't ever let the other seeker distract you. Though you know all about that one after what you did to Cho last year," he added with a smirk.

Ginny laughed at the memory. But that wasn't important, "You have to teach me that move."

"Teach you what move?" he asked.

"That brilliant move you just did!" she cried, "With the spinning and the back flip and the—teach me that. It was fantastic!"

Harry laughed, "Alright," he said, "It's a really hard one."

"You think I can't handle it, Potter?" she challenged with a cocked eyebrow.

"No…" he said, "I definitely think you can handle it. I'm just saying it took me weeks to perfect it."

"Try me," she said with a smile.

"Alright," Harry said, rubbing the back of his neck, "Let me see what you've got."

Step by step, Harry coached Ginny through the maneuver. From the feint to the double roll to the back flip. Seeker practice was completely forgotten. Slowly she was able to get the roll spin, but the direct back flip wasn't happening. She kept veering sideways instead.

"You're really close. You're just missing the final push. It's more subtle than you think," Harry said as Ginny flew to the ground to fix a set of bent twigs on her broom.

"Maybe it's my broom," she said with a grimace.

"Do you...er...want me to take you through it? You know, just so you can feel what you're missing," he added quickly.

Her stomach swooped dangerously as she looked up at him, "...Can't hurt, right?"

Harry shrugged and moved back on his broom to allow her room. Without saying anything, she placed her broom on the ground and climbed onto the front of his.

Harry's arm wrapped tightly around her waist and he took off into the night air without warning. The wind pressed against her body, pushing her deeper into him. He tightened his grip upon her.

"Okay, are you ready?" he yelled into her ear against the wind. She nodded against his shoulder.

Harry deftly swung down, catapulting them directly at the ground with ferocious speed. Then suddenly he pulled them into the double side rotation, resulting in a direct back flip, wherein he flawlessly caught the snitch. Stopping in mid air, he removed his arm from her waist and pulled out his wand.

"Pertificus Totalus Wingardium Leviosa," he muttered to the practice snitch, causing it to freeze in it's place in the sky.

"You're sure you don't want to be a professional seeker?" she asked breathlessly, arching back to see his face.

Harry smiled and flew them back to where they had started, "You'll get it. Did you see how I pulled out of that final back flip? I hardly did anything. You're just pulling a little too hard and over correcting."

Ginny nodded, "Yes that, and the fact that I'm not Harry bloody Potter." She elbowed him in the stomach lightly, "That was incredible."

"Thanks," he said, his lips directly next to her ear. He wrapped both of his arms around her waist and gave her full control of the broom, "Your turn."

"I hope I don't kill us," She said as she took the broom into her hands.

"Yeah, try not to do that, Gin. I'd prefer to survive this."

"Oh Sod off, Potter," she groaned. Harry laughed into her ear, "Ready?"

"Always," Harry replied.

She breathed deeply, pulling her focus away from him and onto the task at hand.

Pushing the broom handle down, she shot to the ground. She felt Harry's face bury into her flying hair.

She pulled into the side flip and screamed when she got an amazing amount of spin, allowing them to roll three times. She felt his grip tighten once more. Then she pulled ever so slightly up, causing them to flip back and just a bit to the right, catching the snitch without fail.

"YES!" she screamed, pumping her arm in triumph as she shot them higher into the sky.

"That was BRILLIANT!" he yelled into her ear, "How did you get so much spin? I've never gotten anything like that!"

"I don't know!" she answered breathlessly as she pulled the broom to a halt in the moonlight. She turned to him over her shoulder, "That might be the most amazing move I've ever flown."

"It was bloody brilliant, Ginny," Harry said.

"Thanks," she beamed, but then she cut herself short.

Something in his eyes made her freeze.

"That was brilliant..." he repeated quietly.

Without warning, the most intensely wonderful rush of fire rocked through her body and the pitch faded from view. He was startlingly close. She could see each fleck of green in his eyes as he gazed at her in the moonlight. His arms, still wrapped tightly around her despite their stillness, pulled her ever so slightly closer. She followed without hesitation, her breath shallow. Harry's eyes fell shut.

"Oi! Are you guys done yet? I've been waiting down here for an hour! I want to go to the kitchens, I could eat a Hippogriff!" Ron's dulcet tones echoed from the dark ground.

Harry's eyes shot open and his grip on her loosened instantly, "We're coming!" he bellowed down.

He adjusted his glasses awkwardly, "You...er...feel you're set for tomorrow, then?"

"Uh huh," she breathed, turning back around on the broom.

"Great," Harry said.

Only when Harry started flying did she let out the breath she was holding, and on her inhale so many questions that had been rushing through her mind for days fell into place.

She felt weightless.

She felt amazing.

She felt terrified.

It could be suicide.

But suddenly she realized, with a flash of his face and echo of his wonderful laugh: She didn't care.

Whether or not that had just happened, whether or not Harry felt it too, the fact remained all too clearly. He was undeniable.

And it was time she did something about it.

"Mione," Ginny whispered as she pushed the door open quietly. A small light glimmered from the curtains around Hermione's bed. After a second, Hermione peeked her head out through her curtains.

"...Yeah?" she asked hesitantly.

"We need to talk, we need to talk right now," Ginny whispered without hesitation. She climbed onto Hermione's bed and pulled the curtains shut.

"Is everything alright?" Hermione asked.

Ginny nodded, "Fantastic."

Hermione looked at her curiously for a moment. Then she pulled out her wand and stuck it out of the other side of her bed curtains, "Muffliato," she whispered. She turned her eyes back onto Ginny, "Okay. Talk."

"I'm not going to fight this anymore," Ginny blurted out.

"What are you--"

"I have fought it for years," she said strongly, "In some ways I feel like I've fought this since the first time I ever heard his bloody name." A glimmer of understanding slipped into Hermione's eyes, "And I beat it. I put it behind me and walked away, just like you told me to. And I would love to think he didn't even cross my mind for a day or two of it," her fingers lacing through her hair nervously, "But it always comes back to him!" Ginny shook her head, "I can't fight this anymore. Honestly, it's futile! He's in every thought I have. I see him and everything inside of me bursts! Look at me! Just talking about it like this I get this stupid dumb smile on my face! I've never felt this way about anyone..."

"Finally," Hermione interjected with a sigh, rolling her eyes as a smile tore across her face, "I really didn't know how much longer you were going to deny it."

Ginny laughed, "I just--"

"Oh Gin, please tell me you've figured it out, at least," Hermione said, imploring her with her eyes, "You do realize that Harry is head over heels for you."

Ginny's insides clenched as Hermione confirmed her suspicion. She bit her lip.

"I'm mean, true, you're not around when he asks about you. _Constantly_," she repeated, rolling her eyes in amusement, "But--"

"I think he almost kissed me tonight," she said quietly, hardly able to keep a straight face.

Hermione gasped and grabbed Ginny's hands, "What!?"

"Well, I can't be for sure, but we were in the sky after he had taught me this brilliant maneuver on his broom and I turned around and I just...it was there. And then he pulled me in and..." she sighed, "then Ron called from the ground whining about how he wanted to go to the kitchens."

"Leave it to Ron," Hermione sighed, rolling her eyes, "Honestly, that boy--"

"Harry asks about me?" Ginny cut in quietly.

Hermione smiled, "Did I say constantly? Because he does it _constantly_." Ginny swatted at Hermione in embarrassment, "Honestly! It's terribly annoying!" Hermione said giggling.

Ginny buried her face in her hands and moaned, peeking through her fingers at Hermione, "This was so much easier when he didn't know I existed!" she sighed, "What in Merlin's name do I do now?"

Hermione smiled, "Well, you are going to go after him, right?"

Ginny looked up from her hands. There was no reason to even think about the question. The answer had been knocking at the back of her teeth from the second she left his broom.

"I reckon I am."

The sky the next morning was a beautifully clear blue. So clear that she was sure she'd be able to see the snitch if it was hanging out in her room back at the Burrow. Then where was it?

It was immensely frustrating. The snitch had made itself known so many times in the beginning of the match, and she had spotted it every time, feinting in an opposite direction or creating diversions so that Cho would not spot it. But now that she needed the blasted thing, it was nowhere to be seen.

Below her, the match had gone superbly thus far. The jitters that the chasers and Ron had had the night before seemed to have worn off overnight, because they were playing with fantastic precision. They were winning by an obscene amount. All she had to do was catch the snitch and it would all be over. But that didn't seem to be happening.

So she needed to make it worth it. She couldn't miss this. Because Harry was depending on her.

And, she thought with a smirk, she especially could not lose to his ex girlfriend.

But she could not think about him at that moment, she had to find it in herself to drive his moonlit face from her mind.

"Ravenclaw scores! 300-140 Gryffindor!" Seamus's brogue echoed through the stands.

On the other side of the pitch, Dean intercepted the quaffle and threw to Demelza. The Chasers fell into a tightly configured Haresrolle Maneuver and streaked past the surprised Ravenclaw chasers on their way to the--

Snitch!

Cho shot to the opposite end of the pitch the second that Ginny spotted it floating directly below Gryffindor's center goal. Applying every bit of momentum that she could, she flew to the goal. Cho was much too far ahead, but Ginny gasped as she saw a bludger head straight for Cho. It knocked out the back of her broom and rebounded as she spun dangerously. Renewed fire ignited in Ginny as she flew closer and closer. But as she pulled up ever so close, she realized the rebounded bludger was heading directly for her.

Instinct and Adrenalin taking over for her mind, she pulled her broom into her recently perfected side roll, hearing the bludger zing directly past her ear as she fell into the rotation. And realizing that she had flown directly past her intended goal, she pulled ever so slightly back and flipped over, feeling the snitch gracefully enter her hand.

"And Weasley has the the Snitch with a wicked Spin and Roll! GRYFFINDOR WINS! 450-140!"

"YES!" She screamed, holding the Snitch high in the air as she righted her broom and headed to the ground.

The field instantly filled with a sea of cheering Gryffindors.

"That's my sister!" Ron yelled from behind as she landed, pulling her into a one armed hug, and pumping his arm in which held the beautifully gleaming Quidditch cup in the air. He was pulled away quickly as Hermione jumped on his back.

Before she knew it, the cup was shoved in her hand and she was hoisted in the air. It was fantastically wonderful.

But she could not wait to get off of the pitch.

The party roared all the way back to the tower in a sea of Red and Gold. Linked arm and arm with Hermione, they busted into the common room to be greeted by a party that was already in full swing. Gryffindor banners hung brightly from the wall and streamers were thrown through the crowd, tangling everyone into celebratory hugs. Congratulations and 'Thank God it didn't go to the Slytherins!' were heard from every corner of the room in a rising frenzy of noise.

"Ginny!" yelled a voice from behind. She turned to see Colin Creevey busting through the crowd over to her, "That last move you made in the sky was incredible!" He chirped, "What was it called?"

"Erm...I don't know. Harry taught it to me. I think he made it up."

"Wow! He did! That's amazing!" Colin squeaked, "But here, look what I got!" Colin held out a photo to Ginny. Her eyes widened as she saw herself fall into a triple spin, flip into a back roll, and fly out of the photo, snitch held tightly in her hand.

"This is amazing, Colin!" She cried.

"I thought you'd want to see it. It was the best picture I took of the match."

She beamed at him.

At that moment the room erupted with a sound like a thousand casts of Sonorus. Her heart suddenly surged violently.

"Colin, do you mind if I keep this copy?" she asked quickly.

"Sure, I--"

"Thanks!" she cried. She took off through the crowd at once. She didn't know how she knew it was him. She just did. She burst through the last of the crowd.

Harry stood in the portrait hole, looking utterly bewildered as his eyes scanned the room. He stopped directly on her. A surprised and elated smile broke onto his face as he caught her eye, his eyes the most fantastic emerald.

All she wanted to do was share the moment with him. She ran as fast as her legs would carry her, and she barreled directly into his outstretched arms.

"Harry! I--mm!"

Harry's lips suddenly crashed against hers, cutting off any idea of whatever stupid thing she was going to say.

In an instant, everything inside of her burst into a weightless frenzy.

And with a delicious release, she pulled him tighter and gloriously kissed him back.

His lips were rough from months of Quidditch burn, and his glasses dug into the bridge of her nose. But she wouldn't have it any other way. Because it was all Harry. And she never wanted to let go.

* * *

**I'd love to hear from you :)**


	41. Seek and Catch

A dizzy spin took her over. Harry's hand slid through her hair and grazed the back of her neck as he released her shocked lips from his own. Opening her eyes, she stared up at him wide eyed. Harry, wide eyed himself behind a wisp of black hair that had fallen into his eyes, smiled down at her hesitantly.

The tinkling of broken glass in the silent room brought her ever so slightly back to reality, and Harry lifted his head and looked out into the room.

Ginny's arms loosened around Harry's neck and she followed his gaze to see the entire Gryffindor house Stupified at the scene. Butterbeer bottles were frozen in mid drink on the lips of wide eyed students. Half formed words and stalled gestures hung in the air along with endless dropped jaws. The Quidditch cup hung limply in the air in the hands of her dumbstruck brother. But her eyes only sought Hermione. Hermione's eyes were just as wide as everyone else's, but they were sparkling along with her beaming smile. Ginny felt a stupid smile grow uncontrollably on own her face, and for a splinter in time the girls silently conveyed all they needed to say, with raised eyebrows and stunned expressions.

The room was waking up, though in reality it had only been five seconds, and Ginny could feel her face getting hot as cheers and giggles began to fill the room. The flash and smoke of a camera popped.

In the growing commotion, Ginny felt Harry's hand slip over hers. Turning back to him, she was greeted with his broad grin, slightly flushed as he tugged on her hand and nodded quickly toward the exit directly behind them. Instantly drowning out the room, she fled with him from the scene, and the common room was left worlds behind as the portrait hole swung shut.

The empty corridor, so quiet in contrast from the common room, echoed with their footsteps and shallow breaths. Ginny's frenzied mind finally took a moment to take stock of what had just happened. The heat of his hand was warming hers. She could still taste him on her lips...

Ginny stopped suddenly and turned to him. Harry opened his mouth to speak as he looked down on her. He didn't get a single word out.

Hardly able to believe what she was doing, she pulled him into her, making them both stumble as she caught his lips with her own. Harry steadied them, his arms wrapping around her waist as he let out a surprised moan against her mouth.

She had never done him justice. Kissing Harry was better than any of her conjured daydreams. Body on fire, her fingers found their way to his face, memorizing for the first time the curve of his cheek before moving slowly into his unruly hair. His hair felt even thicker between her fingers than it looked. He held her tighter in response, his hand running up her back.

After what could have been a year, she caught Harry's bottom lip lightly and pulled away, opening her eyes to see him looking down on her.

"Hi," she whispered breathlessly.

"Hi," he replied in surprise.

His green eyes startled her into honesty.

"I've wanted to do that for a very long time," she whispered.

Harry's light smile widened. "Oh Merlin, me too," he brought his finger lightly to her face and brushed her fringe from her eyes, making the skin of her forehead tingle violently. "Now I'm just hoping your brother doesn't decide to impale me with his Cleansweep."

"Oh, forget my brother. Forget all of them," she said, leaning up and kissing him lightly.

"I think I can do that," Harry murmured against her lips.

Ginny took a moment with his lips before mumbling, "I think Colin took a picture."

Harry groaned in response and pulled away just a bit, "I swear Colin has a picture of every moment of my life. I wouldn't be surprised if he has a picture of my birth," he said with a laugh, "So I hear, it's a gorgeous day outside. Care to take a walk around the lake?"

"I'd like that," she replied.

She was hardly able to wipe the smile or her wide eyed expression off of her face as Harry smiled down at her and scooped her hand up in his. The feel of his skin on hers, a feeling she had imagined countless times, felt wholly wonderful.

She looked down at herself and laughed.

"What?" he asked.

"I'm still in my Quidditch robes," she replied, "Not really the best thing to wear on a stroll around the lake."

Harry was silent for a second, then he cleared his throat, "Well, what if I told you that you look completely adorable in your Quidditch robes?"

Ginny felt her face smart as she fought her smile from growing wider, "It makes it a little better, I guess."

"Good," he said as he pulled her hand and started down the hallway, looking forward, "because you do. Especially the knee pads." Ginny could see the faintest blush on his face.

The couple rounded the corner and began to descend down a flight of steps as Harry chuckled to himself, "Well, I'll tell you. The second half of the day is turning out much better than the first."

"Bad detention?"

"The first of many. I can't wait," he replied acidly.

"I'm really sad that you didn't get to see your team today. You would have been so happy," Ginny said.

"Hi Ginny," a voice called lightly, drifting from the walkway to their right as they started down a new corridor. Stopping in place, they peered into the shadow to see a blonde head pop out, "And Harry."

Luna's wide eyes wandered down to the couples entwined hands and she gazed for a moment with interest, "Oh good, My tea leaves were right. I was wondering when that was going to happen."

"Er..." Harry began.

"Amazing catch of the snitch today Ginny. I wish I could fly like that, but brooms make me nervous. I prefer thestrals."

"Thanks Luna!"

"Did you commentate today?" Harry asked.

"No...it's alright though, I enjoy watching," she replied airily, "Well, I have to go down and pick up something from the house elves. Have a nice stroll around the lake!" Luna turned and disappeared as quickly as she had come.

"Tea leaves?" Harry asked as they started on their way again.

Ginny merely shrugged, "I'm more curious as to how she knew we were going to the lake."

"I wonder if the tea leaves told her that too. That's alright though, I'm happy to hear that for once tea leaves are doing something other than predicting my death."

"Way to be the optimist, Harry."

"I'm the eternal optimist," Harry said sarcastically, "So, tell me about this great catch you made today that Luna was raving about."

Ginny smiled and slipped her free hand into the pocket of her robes, and though she had no idea when she had taken the time to slip it into her pocket, her fingers met with the picture that Colin had given her. Deciding to save the picture for the final moment of her story, the couple made their way out of the castle and onto the grounds as Ginny took Harry through a play-by-play of the match, trying to recreate it as vividly as possible.

"It was unbelievable, to be honest," she said as they made their way down the hill to a wooded side of the lake, "I couldn't even imagine that it was the same team that had been at practice last night. I mean, Dean and Katie were terrible together last night, but they were so spot on today."

"This is so good to know. I was so nervous that I had no idea what was going on."

"I can imagine."

Harry tugged on her hand playfully, "The game sounds like it was amazing, but you haven't told me anything about you yet."

Ginny jutted her chin up teasingly and said, "Well, I have to save the best for last, right?"

"Obviously," Harry replied with a chuckle.

"Well," Ginny began, "in the beginning I was seeing the snitch everywhere. But I couldn't catch it because we needed a lot more points."

"Don't you hate that?" Harry asked emphatically.

"I do! Seriously Harry, I have no idea why you so thoroughly enjoy seeking. I mean, I'm okay with it, but it can get so dreadfully frustrating." They reached an old tree on the secluded side of the lake and Ginny stopped, "Do you mind if we sit down?"

Harry nodded. The sun was surprisingly warm and was making her sweat in her Quidditch robes. Ginny took her hand out from Harry's and began to remove the top layer of her robes, "I mean, that stupid little thing was just taunting me! 'You want to catch me!'"

"Is that what a snitch sounds like?"

"What, a snitch has never talked to you? Of course its what they sounds like," Ginny said as she laid out her robe like a blanket under the tree.

Harry chuckled, "I don't find seeking frustrating at all. I like the challenge of looking for something that isn't obvious, because the rush when you find it is fantastic. I just don't like it when you keep seeing it and you can't take it."

"Interesting perspective.I guess that's why I like chasing. I like having a direct goal."

"That makes sense," Harry said, "So... you couldn't catch the snitch..."

Ginny took a seat under the tree and leaned against the trunk, stretching her legs out in front of her, "Once we had enough points so that I was able to catch it, it was nowhere to be found."

"Naturally," Harry said, following her lead and sitting down to lean back against the tree directly next to her.

Ginny turned to him as his shoulder pressed against hers. It was fascinating, after so many experiences where being in Harry's personal space had been so off limits, that she found herself there. Ginny lifted her eyes to see him looking at her. Even in the most casual moments, Harry's eyes were completely disarming. Almost too much to handle.

"You almost kissed me last night," she said out of the blue.

"Er..." Harry faltered.

Ginny felt another blush creep up her neck, but it didn't matter. She implored him as she continued, "When the snitch finally came into view I almost missed it...because I was thinking about the fact that you almost kissed me last night."

Harry smirked, "Was I that obvious?"

"Blatantly," she said with a laugh.

"No I wasn't. I was completely smooth," Harry retorted mockingly.

"I don't know, maybe it was obvious when you made this face." Ginny half closed her eyes and leaned in close to Harry with pouted lips in apparent mocking, "There was no denying it then. It was a pretty obvious 'I'm going to kiss you' face." Opening her eyes, she smiled as Harry's face reddened, she could almost feel the heat off of it she was so close, "The point is, that little almost kiss almost made us lose the cup because my mind was on you and not the snitch."

"Oh really?" Harry asked surprised with a smile fighting onto this face, "Oops. Well, I'll make a note to never almost kiss you again."

"That would be best. Almost kissing is so much more problematic than actually kissing. I hope you learned your lesson."

"Lesson learned."

"Good," she said with a nod.

"Though, I don't know if I'm to blame here, Ginny" Harry retorted boldly as he put his arm behind his head and slid deeper down the tree. "You really should have been seeking the snitch, not seeking the seeker," he teased with a wry smile.

"Pphht," Ginny groaned and rolled her eyes, "You did not just say that."

"I did," He replied with a laugh.

Ginny leaned in even further and dropped her voice to a challenging whisper, "How many bludger bruises do you have from chasing the Chaser then?" she asked, expecting Harry to laugh and roll his eyes at her terrible joke.

Instead, Harry looked away with an increasingly embarrassed smile, "I've lost count."

Ginny laughed quietly.

Harry looked back with a slight blush, "I didn't think you knew about that."

Ginny paused for a second before her eyes widened in surprise, "I was…joking...Wait. You've been taking bludger hits because of me?"

Harry bit his lip and groaned to himself before leaning away from the tree and reaching up to his shoulder. His face got increasingly redder as he shifted his shoulder so she could see and pulled back the neck of his robe to reveal a deep bruise on the top of his shoulder blade, "I got this one when you were practicing barrel rolls last night."

"…Harry!" she exclaimed in surprise. She reached out and pulled back his robe to see the extent of the bruise that started at the base of his neck and disappeared down the back of his robes.

"And this one," he said, pulling up the sleeve on his left arm to reveal a dark bruise on his forearm, "I got this one while you were in the middle of your third score against Ron a few days ago."

Ginny was speechless. Eyes wide, she stared at Harry.

"And then there's one...but its in a place that I can't really show you. I...er...I got that one while you were fixing your ponytail last night..."

"Harry..." she said with a small giggle.

"So...yeah, I understand feeling distracted..." he said quietly.

Ginny's chest was close to exploding as she looked at Harry's embarrassed face. The way he was looking at her, the way Hermione had noticed months ago, how had she missed it?

Ginny tentatively ran her finger over his bruise on his shoulder and Harry exhaled slowly in response. Bridging the tiny gap, she kissed it lightly.

"I think that fixed it," Harry said quietly. Looking up from his shoulder to his face, she was met with his hand to her face, and his lips connecting with hers.

His kiss was slow this time, soft, and she surrendered, relaxing back against the tree as he leaned in.

Tentatively, and slowly slipping from the tree to lying on the ground, Harry and Ginny's conversation faded into the silence of occupied lips.

What was it about him? Why did the simplest things about him excite her in the most intense ways? They always had. She was able to add to the list of all things Harry as he kissed her. Like the tiny mole that she found as her fingers grazed the back of his neck. The way his hair would fall just slightly into her eyes, causing an undeniable tickle on her forehead. Something as simple as his scent, which ravaged her nose as he laid on top of her, slowly and carefully giving her his weight. Or the way that his glasses would slip from his nose, causing him to stop, push them back on, and continue.

And after so many such times, Harry leaned up and reached to prop his glasses back onto his nose. But Ginny was there first, and she slipped them off of his face. Harry propped himself up with one hand and snatched at her hand, but she was too quick for him and she tossed them a few feet away.

"I need those to see," Harry whined with a laugh.

"You can Accio them later. You don't need to see anything right now," she said, pulling him back down to her lips.

Harry didn't complain anymore after that.

The warm spring sun began to cool as it waned into late afternoon, glistening on the lake and trickling through the leaves of the tree as it did so. But they were too occupied in each other to notice. Ginny could feel her lips swelling as the time went by, but she was nowhere near parting them from his. Memorizing his kiss, the way his hand felt on her cheek, and and the light brush of his tongue against hers was all she could care about. Every part of her wanted to soak up as much of him as she could. Ginny shivered as Harry ran his hand down her arm.

"Are you cold?" he asked quietly.

"Maybe a bit."

Harry looked up at the sky and chuckled, "Maybe we should go inside. We've been out here for hours."

Ginny laughed, "I want to stay as far away from the common room as possible."

"That's probably best," Harry replied, prying himself off of her and sitting back against the tree, making her fully feel how cold the air had gotten. Then he suddenly laughed.

"What?" she asked, sitting up off of the ground.

"You know you never finished your story, right?"

"Well...I got distracted," she replied with a smirk.

Harry laughed a bit harder, "Isn't that where you left off on your story? 'I got distracted'?"

Ginny tried to think back, and her mind vaguely recalled a conversation before spending silent hours kissing Harry, "Seems fitting," she cleared her throat and scooted up to the tree trunk and leaned back against it once more, "So I was talking about how you distracted me with kissing?"

"That sounds about right," Harry said. He ran his hand against hers and began toying with her fingers.

"Well, Cho ended up seeing the snitch first and she was definitely going to catch it, but Peakes hit the back of her broom with a nasty bludger and it sent her spinning. So I was in the lead then, but that bludger ricocheted right at me. Oh!" she said suddenly, jumping, "So---" Ginny quickly crawled away and dug through the pocket of the robe that they were sitting on, retrieving the picture that Colin had taken.

"What's that?" Harry asked with a hint of surprise.

"You'll see," she replied, handing it to Harry as she took her seat against the tree trunk. Curious, Harry turned the photo over, "This is what happened."

"Erm...I can't see," Harry said.

"Oh!" Ginny quickly went back to the pocket of her robes and pulled out her wand, "Accio Harry's glasses."

They floated from the edge of their makeshift blanket and directly into Ginny's hands.

"Thanks Gin," Harry said as she handed them to him. Harry slipped on his glasses and looked at the photo. The confused creases around his eyes suddenly opened up into a wide eyed look of surprise, "Merlin, Ginny! You used the move in the game? This is incredible!"

Ginny smiled broadly, "It was dead useful. I couldn't believe it actually came in handy. That maneuver seems to only be for show."

"I just made it up for fun," Harry murmured, not taking his eyes off of the picture, "This is bloody fantastic! I teach you a maneuver in one night that took me months to perfect, and then you do it better than me and win the cup with it. I'm almost jealous."

"It can still be called the Potter maneuver. I won't claim it," she said with a laugh.

Harry continued to stare at the photo as his arm pulled out from between them and slunk around her shoulder. Responding immediately, Ginny pulled flush up against him.

"Oh, you are cold," Harry said, pulling his eyes from the picture and wrapping her in his other arm.

His arms did a bit to warm her up, but they did nothing for the goosebumps.

"I'm so glad Colin took that picture. I take back every bad thing I've ever thought about him," Harry said with a laugh.

"He'll be glad to hear that."

They sat quietly for a moment looking out over the lake. Wrapped in his arms and pulled against him, Ginny could hear Harry's heartbeat in his chest as his hands stroked her arm to warm her. "I like this," slipped vaguely from her mouth.

"Me too..." Harry replied quietly. After a moment, he cleared his throat, "Do you want to keep doing this?"

"Yeah."

"No. I mean, er...do you want to do this other days?"

Ginny lifted her head from his shoulder to meet his eye, "Umm...what?"

"Er..." Harry paused for a moment and exhaled heavily, "I guess what I'm asking is if you want to be my girlfriend."

A small six year old red headed girl who resided deep in the back of Ginny's mind began to dance vigorously at his request. And she herself had to hold herself back from a jig. Harry's eyes had a surprising level of nervousness as he implored her.

"Hmm..." she contemplated broadly, "My boyfriend Harry..." she mused, "My BOYFRIEND Harry...I like that."

Harry chuckled, "So, is that a...yes?"

Ginny rolled her eyes, "Of course that's a yes."

"Good," Harry said as another smile cracked onto his face. It was addictive. She wanted to taste it. Pulling herself up to him, she kissed him lightly. Then, suddenly laughing, she buried her head in Harry's shoulder.

"What?" he asked quickly.

Ginny groaned, "My mum is going to do cartwheels."

Harry paused for a second, contemplating, "I think I'd like to see that."

Ginny laughed harder.

"She paying you to go out with me, isn't she?" Ginny asked.

"Galleons and galleons," Harry replied, "I actually find you pretty bloody repulsive."

"Oh, shut your mouth, Potter," she said scathingly, attempting to swat his arm. But his ungodly fast reflexes caught her in mid swing, catching her off guard and pushing her to the ground suddenly, making her screech in surprise before crashing his lips against hers. She could feel his lips curve into a smile against her mouth, and she couldn't help but return it, feeling the corners of her mouth raise against his. His smile tasted amazing.

* * *

Please forgive the month of absence. It's been a pretty crazy month, check my profile for an excuse. But I hope that this was worth the wait ;)


	42. A Stolen Moment

Ginny found herself smiling. It had been long time since she'd been able to smile at such an innocent and lovely memory. The rush of pain she felt from his absence over the past year still flared in her, even though his face was, after so long, a mere two inches from her own. Harry's rhythmic and deep breathing lightly tousled the fringe falling into her eyes. She yearned to wake him. To see up close again the incredible green of his eyes. To make sure he wasn't a dream, and that the weight of his arm was real.

Remembering how wonderful it had all been, the more she looked at him in the moonlight that started to flood the dark dormitory room, the more she found it hard to believe that the last terrible year had ever happened at all. In the dark it was hard to see the changes in his face, or the singed tips of his uncharacteristically long hair, so long that it had, for the first time, actually found a way to lie down. Bringing her hand up to his face, she brushed his hair back. Harry responded and tightened his grip ever so slightly around her waist, pulling her into him. Tears suddenly stung her eyes.

* * *

"Well, hello!" chirped Hermione, pulling in closely to Ginny as she fell in step with the red head and whispered, "Details."

"Mione..." Ginny protested quietly.

Hermione laughed as she led them down a staircase toward the Great Hall, "Fine, if you don't want to talk about it, I won't bother you."

Ginny squirmed, "It was...nice."

"Nice?" Hermione said with a laugh, "I'd think being surprised by treacle tart after lunch is 'nice'. I don't think I'd call Harry snogging you in front of the entire Gryffindor House 'nice'."

"Fine you caught me, it was bloody spectacular," Ginny said as the corners of her lips turned traitorously upward.

Hermione smiled a wide eyed smile before whispering, "Is Harry a good kisser?"

"Mione! He's like your brother."

Hermione scoffed, "That's so far beside the point. Is-he-a-good-kisser?"

Ginny rolled her eyes, but her face continued to betray her as a smile was growing ever wider on her lips. Hermione giggled triumphantly, "I will take that as a yes."

"You can do that." Ginny said, feeling her face smart dangerously.

Hermione stopped abruptly in the entryway of the Great Hall and pulled Ginny into a crushingly tight hug.

"Mione, why--the--hugging?" Ginny managed to squeak out through her compressed lungs.

"I'm just happy, that's all," Hermione said with a blinding grin as she let Ginny go and entered into the Great Hall.

Hermione wasn't the only one with a reaction to the news revolving around Ginny. Ginny felt her face betray her as it seared red with embarrassment from the collective penetrating stare of the entire school. Giggles and whispers echoed off the walls and mingled with deadly looks from many girls who's hearts had been broken by the news that Harry Potter had snogged someone other than them in the front of the entire Gryffindor house.

There was only one face that didn't seem to be looking at her.

Ron, who was already at breakfast, was deeply engrossed in an upside down Transfiguration book.

Ginny felt her red face freeze. Sometimes she wished she didn't have brothers. It made moments like this one unbearably awkward.

Hermione took a seat next to Ron and looked over his shoulder, smirking.

"What are you reading?" Hermione asked.

Ron grunted in return, eyes glued to the book in front of him.

"Maybe this will help," Hermione said as she took the book and turned it right side up.

Ron rolled his eyes, "I was reading it bloody well fine," he said, snatching it from Hermione and going back to pretending to read, this time right side up.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Ron, stop hiding, you're going to have to--"

"It's just weird!" Ron said quickly, cutting her off as he reached for a piece of toast and made a poor attempt at applying jam to it. "My best friend and my sister. It's...just really really..."

"I'm right here, Ron," Ginny said in a bored monotone.

Ron finally looked at her, gesticulating with the jam covered knife, "No kissing in front of me. No hand holding in front of me. In front of me you are Ginny. And he's Harry. Not Ginnarry or whatever it is you call it."

Ginny laughed loudly, "Ginnarry?"

"You know what I mean. He's my best bloke. No kissing in front of me. No hand holding---"

"--in front of you. I got it," Ginny said curtly, rolling her eyes.

"Oh, Ginny! I worked on these last night," Hermione cut in suddenly, changing the subject as she dug through her bag and pulled out a large stack of bound parchments, "Your study schedules!"

"...yay..." Ginny said with a hint of trepidation "I can't wait to study."

"You should want to study every moment of the day, your education is the most important thing," Ron said, making Hermione and Ginny burst with laughter.

"Wow Gin, you should date Ron's friends more often. It seems to get his priorities in order. I mean look, he's reading!" Hermione quipped through her laughter. Ron glared at her and slammed his book shut.

Ron ate in silence while Ginny and Hermione went over Ginny's study schedules, before mumbling something about Herbology and leaving them alone at the table.

Ginny rolled her eyes and sighed, "Is he going to stay like that? Because that is unbelievably annoying."

"No, he won't stay like that," Hermione replied, "I talked to him about it last night and he really is fine with it. If you're with any bloke, he said Harry was a good choice."

"Obviously," Ginny quipped.

"But they are best friends and, well, Ron can be a prat," Hermione continued, "So just give him a few days. Maybe he just needs to talk to Harry first."

"I'll give him three days before I start hexing him."

"That's fair," Hermione said with a nod, "Now, about this schedule..."

Hermione droned on and on about how she had set up Ginny's coming weeks and it was becoming clear that Hermione had left no chunk of free time...well...free. Ginny's mind wandered as they sat in the emptying Great Hall going over charts and graphs 'for success'. Her mind wandered further the next day when she was quarantined for the evening in the library for actual study. And her mind wandered yet further three days later when, once again trapped studying in the library with Hermione, her stomach growled and her eyes began to cross.

"Hermione, I--"

"Forty-five more minutes and then we can take a study break," Hermione said as she pulled out her wand to correct something on the parchment she had been scribbling on, "I arranged for Dobby to have sandwiches waiting for us in the common room so that we don't have to waste our time going down to the Great Hall again. This way we can go to the common room and pick up right where we left off."

"You do realize it is a gorgeous evening outside and we are losing valuable--"

"All the gorgeous days in the world lay beyond you finishing your O.W.L.S. Gin. Now that you're done with Quidditch we have to make up for all of that study time you missed," Hermione said with a smile that Ginny wanted to slap straight off of her face. Hermione was incredible, she was an amazing friend and sharp as a tack, but she really had her priorities out of line.

Hermione had a talk with Harry quickly after they had started going out, making it clear that Ginny had to use her small amount of free time for study and Harry needed to respect that, which Harry had done decently well. This meant she had hardly had the chance to see him since they had spent their fantastic day together on the grounds. She passed him in the hall every so often and sat with him at lunch, but not a moment of time alone with him had been had, and it was frankly starting to get on her nerves. It seemed though that she wasn't the only one who thought so.

The forty-five minutes passed and Hermione packed her bag and nodded for them to go to the common room to continue their evening of studying.

"Year of the Hogsmeade Goblin Rebellion," Hermione quizzed as they passed through an open corridor.

"1612" Ginny replied without missing a beat.

"Good! The only known wizard to ever have chosen to switch his hands and feet."

"erm...Fingold the Fumbling?"

"Close. We'll need to work on that part of History of Magic. The spell used to switch ones hands and feet."

"Harry! Mmpgh!"

"That's not a spell, that's a," Hermione turned around and huffed, "Harry Potter you get back here with Ginny Weasley! She has some very serious studying to do!"

Ginny hardly heard Hermione's final words as Harry stealthily rushed them down a corridor under the invisibility cloak.

"I have never had a better reason to use this thing," Harry whispered closely into her ear as they stopped against the wall in a quiet corridor two or three floors from where he had snatched her from Hermione.

"My savior. I don't think I could handle learning about another stupid wizard tonight."

Harry looked around and laughed lightly.

"Do you know where we ended up?" He asked her.

"No clue," she replied in a whisper.

"This is the corridor where I saved you from Filch a couple weeks back. You know, when I lied to you about Snape being outside the Gryffindor entrance so that I could get some time to spend with you alone."

Ginny gasped, "You lied to me about that!?"

"Yep," Harry said, quickly kissing Ginny on the cheek, "I couldn't get you alone any other way, so I had to take advantage of the moment."

"Harry Potter, I'd almost call you a romantic for that," Ginny said with a laugh, looking up to his shocking eyes, still bright in the the growing darkness of the corridor, "Hermione is going to make you pay for this."

Harry leaned down slightly and reached his lips so close to hers that a feather couldn't fit between them, "Are you complaining?"

Ginny shook her head back and forth ever so slightly.

"Well, we just have to make it worth it then," Harry whispered as his lips forged the indecipherable gap between hers. His kiss was sweet and a bit rouge as his body pressed her gently against the cold stone wall. Harry released his hand from hers and replaced it on her waist, causing her to wrap her arms around his neck and pull him closer as his kiss deepened. The confinement of the invisibility cloak made her sweat slightly as Harry's arm slid behind her back, making her arch into him.

"Ginny's choice: Astronomy Tower, or the Room of Requirement?" he asked against her lips.

Ginny's breath hitched as she thought about what each of those places implied, "It'll be a beautiful sunset from the Astronomy Tower."

"Perfect, come on," Harry's tugged Ginny's hand and they made their way silently through the castle.

"I've never been to the Astronomy Tower for anything other than class," Ginny whispered as they came to the spiral staircase.

"Me either. Except for the time in first year when I had to send a baby dragon to your brother in Romania."

"Hmm...that's a new story," Ginny said, tip toeing up the rickety wooden staircase.

"There's definitely more where that came from," Harry quipped as he eased open the door.

The sky was a breathtaking blinding red in the sunset, the wind catching the cloak so that it rippled against them as they walked. Harry reached up to remove the cloak but Ginny caught his hand, "Lets keep it on. I like being hidden."

"It's nice isn't it?" Harry said, moving his hand from hers and snaking both around her waist from behind. A shudder took her over, so happy that she was alone with him instead of alone with a book under the supervision of Hermione.

"Tell me another one," she said, leaning back into him.

"Another what?"

"Another story I don't know about you. Like the time you, what, sent Charlie a dragon?"

"It was Hagrid's dragon, actually, we got it out of here before it was big enough to trample Hagrid's house. Not to mention Malfoy found out about it."

"Slimy git," Ginny murmured.

Huddled beneath the cloak on the windy tower and seated against the stone wall, Harry told Ginny in detail about the dragon. The conversation weaved along as they watched the sunset. It was their nights on the swing at the Burrow all over again, except now filled with all of the sweet little extras that Ginny had so wanted to add at the time. Harry was so incredibly easy for her to talk to.

"Tell me something I don't know about you," Harry said quietly in a lull in conversation, kissing her forehead.

"Like what?" she asked.

"I don't know. Favorite bedtime story from when you were little or something like that."

Ginny snorted.

"What?"

"You really want to know my favorite bedtime story?" she asked with a slight warning in her voice. Harry nodded. Ginny took a deep breath and felt her face smart, "It's kind of embarrassing."

Harry sat up a bit, "Now I want to hear about it even more."

Ginny squirmed and looked up at him, sighing, "It was...it was about you. My Dad told an incredible bedtime story about Harry Potter. I think he told it to me fifty times before I caught on that it wasn't just a myth. I had no idea you were real."

Harry shifted his weight.

"This doesn't make you uncomfortable does it?" she asked quickly.

"No, I just wish I'd had Ginny Weasley stories growing up so we were even. Do I live up to your dad's storybook version of me?"

Ginny laughed, "Well, I happen to think you're just a bit better considering the Harry Potter in the story my Dad told was only a year old."

"I'm definitely superior to a baby wizard," he said with a laugh.

"I'd have to agree," she said, leaning up and quickly kissing him, "Is it weird to know that there were stories about you?"

Harry hesitated for a second, "Yes and no. I guess it's just a little confusing because I didn't do anything. Erm...how did the story go?"

Ginny blinked, "You want me to tell it to you?"

"Yeah, I guess I do."

"Are you sure?" Ginny asked, suddenly nervous. The idea of recounting a for children version of how Harry's parents had died did not sound like a good choice.

Harry nodded, "Yeah, I want to hear it. Tell it to me."

"Okay..." Ginny said, feeling very on the spot. She sat up and ran her fingers through her hair, "Erm...I'm going to tell this story exactly the way my Dad used to tell it."

Ginny, playing the character of her father, told Harry the story of Harry Potter. Complete with the sweet beginning of that recounted the family, through the action, and straight onto the climax of tiny little Harry vanquishing the darkest wizard of all time. She kept in every part she could remember, from the 'oohs' and 'aahs' that she had added to the dialogue her father had created. Harry watched her intently, taking in every word of the story that she told. As she continued, she worried more and more that it was extremely uncomfortable for him to hear, but as she finished with the cheers of the end of Voldemort, Harry laughed.

"That is the weirdest story I have ever heard in my life," Harry said, chuckling as he pulled Ginny back to him.

"Erm...Bad weird or good weird?"

"Weird weird I guess," He said slowly, "I don't know. I mean, I know that story by now but I've never heard it in that way. It makes me sound like so much more of a hero than I was."

"True. When I was five I thought Harry Potter was the biggest hero of all time."

Harry chucked with a hint of embarrassment.

"That is just how legends are made, Harry. I can't imagine that Merlin was always as incredible as the stories made him out to be."

Harry thought on that for a minute.

"If it makes you feel any better, I really lowered my standards about you when I got to know you," Ginny said with a rye smile, making Harry crack up.

"Good! I love having low standards to live up to."

"The absolute lowest. The fact that you can even string a sentence together impresses me."

Harry laughed and jabbed her lightly in the ribs, "There really should be a story about Ginny Weasley though. "The Girl With the Six Brothers" or something like that."

"I can't imagine that would sell."

"Sure it would. I might have saved the world from evil when I was one, but you survived the wrath of six completely thick red heads. I think we're even."

"They did throw me to see how far I bounced after using Dad's wand to put a hover charm on me once..."

The sky darkened to a pitch black as they continued talking about their childhoods, Harry steering slowly into more serious stories regarding the Dursleys. It was hard to believe how different their childhoods had been.

"I'm so happy Ron had the courage to sit with you on the Hogwarts Express first year. Though my mum has given more than a little thought about officially trying to adopt you. Which...to be honest I'm glad hasn't worked out."

Harry squirmed, "That would make this oh so very wrong."

"My brother Harry Potter..." Ginny said, shuddering, "I'm not even going to joke about that."

"Please don't," Harry laughed, "I don't want to even think how frustrating it would be having the most gorgeous girl I know suddenly as my sister."

Harry's words hit Ginny and she felt her face smart yet again. She looked up at him, "Did you just call me gorgeous?"

"Yeah..." he said quietly, locking eyes with her and brushing her fringe behind her hair in the moonlight.

"Thanks Harry," Ginny said quietly.

Harry pulled Ginny in tighter, "Gorgeous, kind, hilarious, intense, almost a better Quidditch player than me. I'm pretty lucky you kn--"

Harry wasn't able to finish his sentence. Ginny once again bridged the gap between her lips, pulling him deeply into a kiss. The wind blew hard through the tower as the two continued on in silence. It was unexplainable, but somehow Harry's kiss more wonderful with each repetition. His hand tangled through her hair as he shifted his weight and rolled into her kiss. It was almost too much to feel him there on top of her. Almost more than she could handle. Almost--

BANG!

"Okay kids, everyone set up quickly, we only have an hour before the clouds are going to cover the stars," Professor Sinistra's voice was loud in the wind of the tower.

Looking wide eyed at each other, Ginny and Harry froze with Ginny's hands snaked through Harry's hair and Harry's hands just sneaking onto the bare skin of her back where her shirt had become untucked.

Someone screamed.

"Professor!! Feet! Feet! Someone lost their feet!" screeched the voice of what had to be a first year boy. Harry quickly grabbed Ginny's waist and hoisted her to her feet. The small boy gasped.

"What is it Wembly?" Professor Sinistra rushed over to the young boy, causing Harry and Ginny to back up tight against the wall.

"There! There were feet! Right there!" said the poor boy, obviously shocked. Harry whispered in Ginny's ear and tugged on her arm.

"I saw them too!" said the voice of a small girl who they realized not a moment too soon was blocking their one chance for escape. More and more tiny first years began to scoot in, unknowingly trapping the invisible couple. Ginny was standing on one foot so as not to touch one of them. Never had they felt more trapped for such a stupid reason.

Ginny, thinking fast, fumbled to get her wand from her pocket, felt a wand, and pulled it out. Peeking the tip through the opening of the cloak she shot blue sparks to the center of the tower. Screams were heard everywhere as Harry and Ginny took the chance to wind their way through the tiny crowd and run for the open tower door.

"Everyone calm down! Ursula, five points from Slytherin! I'm ashamed of you making everyone jump like that!" they heard Professor Sinistra yell as they tip toed quickly down the stairs. Hardly able to contain their laughter any longer, they burst out into the corridor.

"Bloody brilliant, Gin! You got us out of there AND got five points taken from Slytherin!"

"What can I say? I'm good in a pinch," Ginny said as she tucked her shirt back in and flattened her hair with her hands, "Oh, I pulled your wand," she said in surprise, handing it back to him.

Harry bit his lip to hold back a laugh, his eyes glittering in the dark as he reached to take his wand back. Ginny held on as her eyes narrowed.

"Please don't tell me you were going to make a dirty wand joke or I'll have to hex you with this."

Harry laughed out loud, "Well, I'm not going to make one now!"

Ginny held onto the wand for one more second before relinquishing and giving it back to him, "Good," she said scoldingly, before feeling the edges of her lips betray her into a smile. Harry swooped down and kissed her.

"I wasn't finished up there, you know," Harry whispered against her lips. Ginny smiled.

"Well it really is a good thing you've got this Invisibility Cloak then."

"I'm sure late night snogging sessions with Ginny Weasley is exactly what Dumbledore had in mind when he gave it back to me all those years ago," Harry whispered, nibbling lightly on her ear.

Ginny felt her knees melt, "Good bloke, that Dumbledore, good bloke indeed."

* * *

**And you thought I'd never return. Merry Christmas! **


	43. An Hour by the Lake

Ginny had a shadow. Ever present, tiny and dark, it had lurked around over the last week as she ate, walked through the halls, or sat in the common room. It grew closer as the days went on, and Ginny was aware of its looming background presence. This shadow had a name. Its name was Romilda Vane.

"Congratulations on a job well done. It seems like _your_ love potion went to the right person," said a voice from behind Ginny as she stood up to pack her bag and leave the library after a long night of studying. She spun around in surprise to see Romilda appear from the darkness of a row of books. Her voice was etched with steel. She held out her hand to shake Ginny's, as though Ginny had won a match.

Ginny stared for a moment at Romilda's outstretched hand, turned back to the desk, latched her bag shut and hitched it up on her shoulder, "Just for your information, I didn't have to poison Harry in order for him to ask me out. He just did."

Romilda retracted her hand from the seemingly friendly gesture and Ginny watched it ball into a fist. Apparently, pleasantries were over. "Is he a good kisser?"

The question rattled through Ginny's brain - - _incense her or just let it drop? - - _Ginny smiled, "Ooooh yes. Completely fantastic. Best kisser in the history of kissers."

Romilda's eyes flared, "How about his broom? Has he flown you on his broom?" she asked, voice laced with jealousy.

"I've been riding on Harry's broom since before my third year. And you had better be talking about his Firebolt and nothing else..."

Romilda's face twitched dangerously, as if it was being consumed in a fire, she visibly swallowed before continuing, "Well, is it true that he has a Hippogriff tattooed on his chest then?"

Ginny fought back a sudden urge to laugh. It seemed Romilda had in fact meant a different kind of "broomstick" other than the Firebolt Harry rode for Quidditch... Where did this girl get these stupid ideas? Ginny wasn't about to admit that she had never actually seen Harry without his shirt on, "Nope, it's a Hungarian Horntail. And believe you me, it's gorgeous. The dragon is breathing fire that laces all the way up his shoulder and onto his rippling bicep. Really, it's divine. Now please, leave me alone. I have to go meet Harry. We're going to the Room of Requirement for a little...alone time. I need to investigate this tattoo, and everything that comes with it, further."

Ginny could swear she heard a growl and a stomping of a foot come from behind her as she turned on the livid girl. She tightened her hold around her wand in her pocket just in case she was cursed and she quickly made her way up to Gryffindor Tower.

She really should just get used to it. She was dating the Boy who Lived, after all. It was almost like she asked for it. Though Romilda was probably the most crass, she had certainly not been the first person to approach Ginny about the new 'developments' in her life. Jealous scowls and whispers from pockets of girls mixed with an odd smattering of random impromptu high fives in the corridors from random people, many of whom she wasn't sure she'd ever even met, were still occurring weeks after she had become a 'hot news' item. It was odd, and frankly Ginny didn't enjoy the attention. The school at large really should have had much bigger things to talk about...

How the collective school could be gossiping about such stupid things when the news poring in from outside the castle was growing darker and darker every day, Ginny could hardly understand. She didn't know what to attribute it to, it could have been the extra time she had been spending with Harry, Ron and Hermione, or the fact that terrible things were happening with such intensity that she couldn't block it out of her head, but frankly, she was growing more nervous by the day about the reality of what was going on both outside and inside the walls of Hogwarts. Each morning the Daily Prophet would be delivered to Hermione and Ginny couldn't help but peer over her shoulder with a sudden knot in her stomach, surveying quickly, hoping that she didn't see any names that she knew. So far, she'd been pretty lucky...

"I hate to think like this, but it can't be much longer," Ginny muttered, pulling at the grass as she sat beneath a tree on the far edge of the lake alone with Harry in a rare hour they had between classes. Two Hufflepuff girls had been pulled out earlier in the morning to find out their parents had disappeared, "I'm sorry. I don't know why I'm saying this, you know this better than anyone."

"Yeah, I do," Harry replied, looking out over the lake as his arms tightened around her waist, pulling her back close to his chest, his chin resting on the top of her head. The couple sat in a silence.

Harry was calming. Leaning against him under such a secluded tree, she felt more at ease than she had in days.

"Thestral," Harry muttered, pointing to what simply looked like a small flock of birds erupting from the tops of the trees on the edge of the forest.

"It's so weird to think that there is a massive animal where you're pointing," Ginny replied.

"Was it weird to ride one without being able to see it? I never asked you that." Harry said after a moment.

Ginny turned to face Harry, "Oh yeah, that was definitely weird. I wasn't nearly as much of a pansy about it as Ron. He was unbearable during that whole flight. 'It's going to disappear! It's going to drop me! I'm going to kill Harry if this thing doesn't kill me!' He was a big baby about it, really."

Harry laughed, "Sounds like Ron."

"Yeah, I reallllly can't understand why you're friends with him," Ginny chided jokingly.

Harry laughed and replied, "I know what you mean, I realllllly can't understand why you'd choose to be his sister."

"Well, I could only disown one of them, and the obvious choice was Percy, so I guess I'm stuck with ickle Ronniekins."

Ginny gasped suddenly, causing Harry's face to twist in alarm.

"What?" Harry asked suddenly.

Ginny pointed, biting her lip to stop from laughing, to the tree trunk that Harry was leaned against. Generations of wand etched graffiti traced through the bark, but one mark was clean and fresh. It couldn't be more than a few months old.

The etching, done in perfect big loopy cursive said, "WonWon, my love forever - - LavLav." Ginny could hardly contain her laughter as she read the inscription aloud.

"I am so glad he escaped that plague," Harry said.

"Oh believe me, me too. If she had turned out to be my sister-in-law along with Pleghm, I think I'd have to disown my whole family. I don't know what he was doing up in his room alone with Hermione that night, but I'm so glad that happened."

Harry's face clouded guiltily and his eyes averted to the lake.

"What?" Ginny asked, skeptically.

Harry stalled for a moment by brushing a lock of Ginny's hair out of her face, "Erm...I know what they were doing up there."

"Is it something scandalous, because Hermione hasn't told me anything!" Ginny asked, excited for some news.

"Oh, no no no, nothing like that," Harry replied, avoiding her eye contact.

"What is it then?"

"Well...I was actually with them, just underneath the Invisibility Cloak. So she just saw the two of them coming down alone."

"Oh," Ginny replied, shaking it off, "Well, that's not so bad. I thought you were going to say something completely damning. What were you doing under the Cloak?"

"Just, erm, I had to run an errand that I didn't really want anyone to see..." Harry said with a quick shifting, causing Ginny's eyes to narrow, "Lavender wasn't the only person affected by my invisible exit."

"Okay..."

"You were too."

"Erm...what are you talking about?"

Ginny was suddenly thoroughly confused. Harry hesitated for a moment.

"Well, it worked in my favor so I guess I don't really regret it, and it was an accident, but erm...it wasn't Dean that pushed you in the portrait hole that night. It was me. I squeezed in past you when I was going out of the door."

Pieces thudded in place in Ginny's mind. She was silent for a moment, "So...it's your fault I broke up with Dean?"

"Yes?" Harry said.

Ginny sat for a moment, remembering with a fresh pang of guilt her one final blow up at Dean. Dean who had always seen what she denied to everyone, even herself. Who had been the one to awaken her to her admission of feelings for Harry. She felt a trill of ironic laughter bust from her, "Well...I broke up with Dean because of you anyway, so the fact that it was your physical catalyst that made me do it right then was just weirdly poetic."

"You broke up with Dean for me?" Harry asked suddenly.

"It wasn't obvious?" Ginny replied, taken aback by his ignorance to her side of the story.

Harry burst into a sudden smile and pulled her in, "I've never been happier to bump into anyone in my life."

He didn't give her the chance to respond.

His kiss elicited a light headed giddiness and a mind clearing that was close to being Obliviated. Wrapped in his arms, the couple eased to the ground, never breaking the contact of their lips. Ginny found herself beneath Harry. His fingers traced her jaw as she ran her hands into his unruly mop of hair.

Harry shifted his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him. His finger slipped onto a small patch of Ginny's bare skin where her shirt had untucked and ridden up ever so slightly, instantly causing her to twitch and giggle despite herself.

"What?" Harry asked, pulling away in surprise..

"Nothing," Ginny said quickly, frozen in his arms. A light of understanding flickered in his eyes. Ginny bit back a groan of loathing. If there was one thing that she did not want Harry to know about her, it was what, as she could see from the recognition in his eyes, he had just discovered.

"Ginny?" Harry whispered in a dangerous voice, "...are you...ticklish?"

"No!" Ginny said, affronted. Harry tightened his grip on her.

"You are, aren't you!" he said in a delightfully evil whisper.

"Harry I'm not---AH!"

Harry redoubled his hold on her, slipping his full hand on her waist and digging in.

Ginny shrieked with laughter and writhed, attempting to pull herself of out Harry's grip. Her entire body went into escape mode. If there was one thing she hated most in this world, it was being tickled. Of all of the occupational hazards of being the youngest of seven children, it was this she hated the most. Ginny had spent most of her childhood attempting to escape this position.

"Merlin's beard you ARE ticklish!" Harry exclaimed as she squirmed and attempted to bat him off.

"Stop! --- Not -- Nice -- Potter!" Ginny wailed, pulling from him with all of her might but constantly being encumbered by her twitching torso.

"Don't know what you're talking about Gin, this is brilliant!"

"You're --- Going --- To --- Pay!" She screeched.

Harry laughed loudly as the two toppled sideways and Harry continued his assault.

Ginny's hand brushed Harry's wand sticking out of his pocket and she pulled it instantly. "Rictumsempra!" Ginny wailed as she jabbed into Harry's ribs.

Harry let go immediately in a buckle of laughter.

"You!!! Gin! You! --- You!--- Jinxed! --- me!" Harry sputtered between giggles as the tickling spell took over his body.

Ginny rolled back on top of him, propped herself up on her elbow and muttered the counter curse. Harry stopped writhing at once, his eyes wide with surprise. Ginny smirked down at him. "Not so fun, is it?"

"You jinxed me! With my own wand!" Harry said in surprise between gasps.

"At least I didn't bat bogey hex you. That's what I usually do to my brothers if they do something as stupid as tickle me," she said with a cold smile as she handed Harry his wand back. Harry took the wand slowly with a surprised smirk on his face. "What?" she asked inquisitively.

Harry was silent for a moment, "You play dirty Weasley."

"Surely you aren't dense enough to have missed this about me," Ginny replied, raising her eyebrows.

"Oh, I know it," Harry said, "It's one of the reasons I like you so much."

Ginny felt her face betray her at his words in the intervening silence.

"You are so cute when you blush like that," Harry said softly.

Ginny rolled her eyes, her cheeks becoming tangibly warm. Harry held up his hands visibly to her in surrender, eyes wide with innocence, "Permission to engage the enemy?" he asked. When she didn't respond he ever so slowly returned his arms around her waist, making it quite clear that he was only going in to hold her there.

Pulling her in ever so slightly, Harry's lips trailed to her ear and Ginny's eyes fluttered shut as Harry placed a light kiss there, her heart rate riveting, "I'm sorry I tickled you," he breathed directly into her ear. His free hand slowly came up and swept her hair over her shoulder. She felt herself take a quick intake of breath as Harry touched a nerve with a kiss on her neck. His lips felt divine as he pulled her ever closer into him, continuing his incredible light assault on her neck. A light moan escaped her mouth. Harry replied by burying his face deeper into her neck.

Gasping, she turned in his grasp and her lips found his. A new, unbridled feeling coursed through her as she kissed him hard, fingers deep in his hair. She felt his hands race up under the back of her shirt, making her breathless with the direct contact of skin on skin.

The minutes went on unknown to them. Harry's mouth left hers and buried hotly into her collar bone. She arched in surprise of the feeling of his lips. Her hold on him became stronger, more intense, and she felt his body give his full weight over to her. His lips returned to hers with a moan.

The things she wanted to do came rushing to her in a tidal wave of surprise. Limbs were becoming confused, tangled, frenzied. A completely unknown part of her was starting to take over. It was too much.

Ginny pulled her lips away from Harry's. Her eyes shot open. A look of surprise matching her own was on Harry's face. They didn't speak for a moment, both breathing quickly as they stared at each other. Harry smiled, a hint of embarrassment in his flushed red cheeks, "Hi," he whispered breathlessly.

"Hi," Ginny replied.

"You are...incredible," Harry said in a slightly stumbling voice.

"Likewise," Ginny whispered.

They stared silently at each other for some time. Harry's green eyes alight with a spark she had never seen there before. She couldn't have looked away if she tried. It made every corner of her body warm with vulnerable longing.

"I don't know how you do it, but you make me forget everything, Ginny," Harry said quietly.

"Is that a good thing?" she breathed.

Harry nodded, "It's amazing." His lips found her forehead lightly.

Harry rolled off of Ginny and to her side, pulling her into him on the early summer grass.

What was it about this boy? What made him so different? What made every piece of her crave him in ways that she not only didn't understand, but had never even felt before? Harry's arms wrapped tighter around her and she buried her head into his chest, taking in a fresh mix of Harry and the scent of grass. She never wanted to leave this spot. It was all too good...Too good to be true...Too good to last...


End file.
